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THE 



RIGHT WAY THE SAi'E WAY, 



PROVED BY 



f 



EMANCIPATION IN THE BRITISH WEST INDIES, 
AND ELSEWHETIE. 

BY L. MARIA CHILD. 



" The world is beginning to understand, that injuring one class, for 
:he immediate benefit of another, is ultimately injurious to that other ; 
and that to secure prosperity to a communiij, all interests must be 
consulted." — Dr. Davy. 



NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE AT 5 BEEKMAN STREET. 

1862. 









la Jixoh^Bfe 
Goruell Univ. 

% l%b 05 



CHAPTER I. 

THE WEST INDIES BEFORE THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. 

It is a common idea that the British West Indies were a 
mine of wealth before the abolition of slavery, and since that 
event have been sinking into ruin. To correct those errone- 
ous impressions, I have carefully collected the following facts 
from authentic sources : — 

Official Reports, returned to the British Parliament, prove 
that the outcry about ruin in the West Indies began long 
before the abolition of slavery, and 'even before the abolition 
of the slave trade ; and we ought, moreover, never to forget 
that this outcry related solely to the ruin of the masters ; no- 
body expended a thought upon the ruin of their 800,000 la- 
borers. 

As early as 1792, a Report to Parliament stated that, in 
the course of the preceding twenty years, one hundred 
and seventy-seven estates in Jamaica had been sold for 
the payment of debts; the cultivation of fifty-five had been 
abandoned ; ninety-two were in the hands of creditors ; 
and 80,021 executions, amounting to £22,500,000 sterling 
($109,012,500), had been lodged in the provost marshal's 
office. In 1805, the Reports described the condition of the 
West India planters as one of " increasing embarrassment, 
and impending ruin." The Reports in 1807, 1808, 1812, 
1830, and 1832, w^ere still more lamentable. In 1830, four 
years before emancipation, Lord Chandos presented io Par- 
liament a petition from West India planters and merchants, 
setting forth " the extreme distress under wdiich they la- 
bored." In his speech, in support of the petition, he said, 
" They are reduced to a state in v»'hich they are obliged 
earnestly to solicit relief from Parliament. It is not possible 
for them to stand up against such a pressure any longer." 
Mr. Bright said : " The distress of the West India Colonies 



4 THE HIGIIT WAT THE SAFE WAT. • 

is unparalleled In the country. Many familjes, Vvho formerly 
lived in comparative affluence, are reduced to absolute pen- 
ury." The West India Reporter also quoted thusi from a Re- 
port on the commercial state of the Colonies : " There are 
strong concurrent testimonies and proofs that, unless some 
speedy and efficient measures of relief are adopted, the ruin 
of a great number of the planters must inevitably take place." 
An able v/riter in the Edinburgh -Revieiv informs us that, 
*' In the small island of St. Lucia an Encumbered Estate 
Court was establislied in 1833, and, small as that island is,* 
in the first eighteen months, liabilities were recorded to the 
enormous amount of £1,089,965 ($5,280,880); all debts in- 
curred under slavery. Nor did that island stand alone. In 
each one of them the same state of things prevailed." The 
laborers were decreasing rapidly. The Edinburgli Revieto 
declares: "What gave the death-blow to slavery, in the minds 
of British statesmen, was the appalling fact that the Pop- 
ulation Returns, from only eleven of the Colonies, showed 
that, in the course of twelve years, the slaves had decreased 
, 60,219. Had similar returns been procured from the other 
seven Colonies, they must have shown a decrease of little, if 
at all, less than 100,000. Had the same rate of decrease 
gone on, one century would have seen the extinction of sla- 
very by the extinction of the slaves."! Production was also 
decreasing. A table of exports, in the Appendix to Mr. 
Bigelow's work on Jamaica, shows that, in the ten years end- 
ing 1830, there was a decrease in that island, of 201,813 
hogsheads of sugar, from the amount in the ten years ending 
Avith 1820. In view of these, and similar facts, the Edin- 
hurgh Revieio says : " Plainly, the artificial, arbitrary inter- 
ference of law with the freedom of man, and freedom of 
trade, was bringing about the extinction of the working-class, 
and wi^ whirling their masters along to utter ruin." 

* It is about as larae as eicrht common New England towns. 

t It must not be inferred from this statement that the system of sla- 

v( ry was more cruel in the West Indies, than in otlier sugar-growing 

.Colonies and States. Wherever >^iiqar is produced by slave-labor, 

\/ there is always an awful destruction of negro life, owing to the severely 

hard pressure of work, continued night and day, during one particular 

season of the crops. 



Tim RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 5 

At the time when the planters were complaining of such 
excessive embarrassments, they had a monopoly of the sugar v^ 
maKket in Great Britain, so close that not even the East 
India Colonies were allowed to compete with them ; a mo- 
nopoly, ^Wiicli cost the comsumers $25,000,000 annually. 
They paid no wages to their laborers ; and furnished them 
merely with rags to tie about their loins, and enough of 
coarse food to keep them in working condition. Yet while 
they produced from a prolific soil the great staples of com- 
merce, without paying for the labor, and with an enormous 
premium from the consumers in Great Britain, they were so 
nearly reduced to "ruin," that they were compelled "ear- 
nestly to solicit relief from Parliament." 

A few facts will help to explain this apparent anomaly.^ 
In the first place, the system of slavery contravenes all the,^ 
laws of human nature, and therefore contains within itself *" 
the seed of ultimate ruin. It takes away the motive power 
from the laborers, who naturally desire to shirk as much as 
possible of the work, which brings them no pay ; conse- 
qiiently, overseers and drivers must be hired to force out of 
them their unwilling toil. It makes thera indifferent to the 
destruction of property on estates, in whose prosperity they 
iiave no interest. It stimulates them to theft, by perpetual 
privations, from which they have no prospect of relief. It 
kills their ingenuity and enterprise, by rendering them utterly 
unavailing for any improvement in their own condition; 
while all their faculties are stupefied by the extreme igno- 
rance in which they must necessarily be kept in order to be 
held in slavery. The effects on the white population are 
quite as injurious, though in a different way. Slavery una- 
voidably renders labor a degradation, and consequently, it is 
a matter of pride with them to live in idleness. Extrava- 
gance and dissipation follow of course. All, w^ have 
examined into the subject, are aware that inte^Rrance, 
licentiousness, and gambling, are fearfully prevalent in slave- 
holding countries. One hint will suffice to suggest the im- 
moral condition of the West Indies, during slavery. It is a 
well-known fact that the white subordinates employed by 
planters were very liable to lose their situations if they 
married ; because it was for the interest of the proprietors 
to have them live with slaves, and raise up laborers for the 
1* 



6 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE \^Y. 

estates. As for the slaves, being regarded as animals, and 
treated like live-stock, thev unavoidably lived like animals. 
Modesty and self-respect were impossible to their brutalized 
condition. In this Tract, I merely aim at presenting a biisi- 
ness-vieyf of the subject. Tlierefore, I will not describe the 
cruelties, which were contijuuiUy practised, and which kept 
the worst passions of both masters and slaves in perpetual 
excitement. The barbarities recorded. were the same that 
always 77iust prevail, under a system of coerced labor and 
irresponsible power. 

In addition to the unavoidable expenses, and inevitable 
deterioration involved in the very nature of slavery, the 
West India planters had another difficulty to contend with. 
" Nearly the whole of the sugar estates were owned by ab- 
sentees, the greater part of whom never set foot in the 
islands." This involved the necessity of hiring managers 
and attorneys to look after the property. Mr. Bigelow com- 
putes the average annual expense of an estate to have been 
$^3,000, solely to pay for the absence of the proprietor. The 
Rev. Henry Bleby, who was a missionary in the West In- 
dies before emancipation, and has resided there ever since, 
says : " Let us look at the condition of a West India estate 
under slavery. Thera were four or five hundred slaves. 
True, there w^as little expended for their food; but their 
masters had to sup})ly.them with so many yards of cloth a 
year, and several other small articles. That w^as one item 
of expense. Then, to superintend the labor of these slaves, 
there must be four bookkeepers, as they were called ; one 
to superintend the still, another the boiling-house, another 
the cattle on the estate, and another, vsometinies two or three 
others, to superintend the people in the field. All these had 
to be fed and salaried. Then there was the overseer, with 
his harmi, living at considerable expense out of the estate, 
and aHPhigh salary. Over all these was the attorney, who 
took his commission out of every thing the estate produced, 
and lived in the great house with his servants and harem. 
Then there was the proprietor living with his family in 
princely style, in France or England. All this was to be 
drawn out of the produce of one estate ! I should like to 
know whether there is any property that would not be 
brought to ruin, with so many living upon it, and out of it." 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 7 

Everybody knows how property is cared for, when there 
are none but hirelings to look after it. All accounts of the 
West Indies abound with the complaints of proprietors con- 
cerning the neglect, wastefulness, and fraud of their subor- 
dinates. Accumulation of salaries being the principal ob- 
ject in view, one manager often superintended many estates. 
Dr. Davy, in his work on the West Indies, speaks of twenty- 
three estates in Montserrat, managed by one agent. Ho 
reports nineteen of them as " imperfectly cultivated," or 
"abandoned;" which is by no means surprising, under the 
circumstances. Mr. Bigelow met in Jamaica, a gentleman 
who had come from England to ascertain why he w^as al- 
ways sinking more and more money upon his estate. Upon 
inquiry, he discovered that his manager lived sixty miles 
from the property, and had never seen it. 

With such drains upon their income, the proprietors were, 
of course, obliged to borrow money continually. Year after 
year, a gambling game was carried on between them and 
the merchants of London. The merchant would advance 
money to the planter, on condition tliat all the produce of 
the estate should be consigned to his house, and that what- 
ever was needed on the estate, in his line of business, should 
be bought of him. The merchant charged what price he 
pleased for his own articles, and took wiiat commission he 
pleased for selling the produce. " Thus," says Mr. Bige- 
low, " the planter's candle w^as burning at both ends." If 
there was a hurricane, or a severe drought, or an insurrec- 
tion of the slaves, wliich caused a ft^ilure of the crops, the 
proprietor was obliged to mortgage his lands to get the 
necessary supply of money. Thus a great many of the es- 
tates passed into the hands of British merchants, and had a 
heavy interest to pay in addition to other expenses. 

Such was the state of things, when the Britisl^^eople, 
ignorant of this financial chaos, and actuated sole^Poy mo- 
tives of justice and humanity, started the idea of abolishing 
slavery. When the planters became aware that the meas- 
ure migli^ be carried, they met it with a furious storm of 
opposition. They characterized it as an " impertinent in- 
terference with their rights," and threatened to withdraw 
from the British government, unless the project were relin- 
quished. Still they petitioned for relief; any kind of relief, 



8 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

e:scept from the destructive system., which had brought them 
to the verge of ruin. To that they swore they never would 
submit. Missionaries, who went to the West Indies to im- 
part rehgious instruction to the slaves, were assaulted with 
brickbats and.im[)risoned on false pretences. Their houses 
were attacked, and their chapels demolished. A Colonial 
Union was formed, the object of which was to drive away 
every instructor of the negroes. Those in England, who 
sought to help on the cause of emancipation, were hated 
with inconceivable intensity. Women in the West Indies 
expressed a wish to get hold of Wilberforce " that they 
might pull his heart out." With these wrathful" vocifera- 
tions were mingled every form of lamentable prediction con- 
cerning the ruin " fanatical philanthropists " were bringing 
on the Colonies. They said if their mad designs were car- 
ried into execution, the masters would all have their throats 
cut, and their liouses burned. What they seemed especially 
concerned about was that " the negroes could not possibly 
take care of themselves." They were too lazy to work 
without the whip. They would abscond to the woods, and 
live there like animals. The few% who might be willing to 
work, would be robbed by the others ; that would lead to 
continual fighting, and there would be prodigious slaughter. 
Tliousands also would die of disease, from want of the fos- 
tering care of their masters. In short, blacks and whites 
would all be swallowed up in one great gulf of swift de- 
struction. 

The Colonial press was, of course, on the side of slavery. 
There was all manner of suppression of truth, and propaga- 
tion of every sort of falsehood on the subject. But through 
all these obstacfes, the work of reform went slowly and 
steadily on. It took twenty years of hard labor and violent 
agitati^^to abolish the ^XaxQ-trade ; then eleven years, still 
more S^miy, to abolish the system. But, at last, the Act of 
Emancipation was passed, and went into effect in 1834. 
Tlie slaves received nothing from the British government 
for centuries of unrequited toih But £20,000,0^0 ($96,- 
900,000) were paid to the masters, for ceasing to extort 
labor by the lash. That was called Compensation. With 
the idea of preparing the bondmen for freedom, the Act of 
Emancipation was unfortunately clogged with an Appren- 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 9 

ticesliip System, by which it was ordained that the -emanci- 
pated hiborers were to work six years for their masters, 
without wages, ^s before. But they were to work nine 
hours a day, instead of twelve ; and were to have half of 
Friday, and the whole of Saturday, for themselves. The 
power of punishing was also taken from masters, and trans- 
ferred to magistrates. Household slaves were to become 
entirely free in 1838, and field slaves in 1840. 

Men long accustomed to arbitrary power are not easily 
convinced that it is both right and politic to relinquish the 
exercise of it. Moreover, we are all, more or less, the 
creatures of custom and prejudice. Therefore, it is not sur- 
prising that the great body of the planters were opposed to 
emancipation, until the eventful crisis had actually passed. 
Up to the last month, they remonstrated, and threatened, 
and entreated the Home Government not to consign them 
to such inevitable destruction. Many judicious and kindly 
men among them thought otherwise. They were convinced 
that the present system was certainly bringing ruin upon the 
Colonies, and they felt persuaded that nothing worse could 
come in its place. Their belief in the safety of emancipa- 
tion was partly founded upon general principles of human 
nature, and partly upon their experimental knowledge of the 
docility of the negroes, when justly and humanely treated. 
But very few of these individuals dared, however, to ex- 
press such opinions ; for the community was in such an ex- 
cited state, that they were sure to suffer for it, in some form 
o]- other. 

Mr. James Scotland, of St. John's, Antigua, said to Mr. 
Thome : " Whoever was known or suspected of being an 
advocate for freedom, became an object of vengeance, and 
was sure to suffer by a loss of business, if in no other way. 
Every attempt was made to deprive my son of business, as 
a lawyer ; and I was thrown into prison, without anj^ form 
of trial, or any opportunity of saying one word in my own 
defence. There I remained, till discharged by the peremp- 
tory order^of the Colonial Secretary, to whom I appealed 
for relief. The opinions of the clergymen and missionaries, 
with the exception of a few of the clergy, were favorable to 
emancipation ; but neither in their conduct, preaching, nor 
prayers, did they declare themselves openly, until the meas-? 



10 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

ure of abolition was determined on. The missionaries feh 
restrained by their instructions from home ; and the clergy 
fliought it did not comport with their order to take part iti 
politics. I never heard of a single planter, who was favor- 
able, until about three months before emancipation took 
place ; when some few of them began to perceive that it 
would be advantageous to their interest." 

Mr. Thome, in his work on the West Indies, says: 
" We were informed that, some time previous to the aboli- 
tion of slavery, a meeting of the influential men in Antigua 
was called at St. John's, to memorialize Parliament against 
the measure of abolition. When the meeting convened, the 
Hon. Samuel O. Baijer, who had been the clianipion of tlie 
opposition, was called upon to pr»i)ose a [>lau of pi-ocedurc. 
To the consternation of the pro-slavery meeting, their leader 
rose and spoke to the following effect : ' Gentlemen, my pre- 
vious sentiments on this subject are well known to you 
all. Be not surprised to learn that they have undergone an 
entire change. I have not altered my views without deliber- 
' ation. For several days past I have been making calcula- 
tions with regard to the probable results of emancipation; 
and I have ascertained, beyond a doubt, that I can cultivate 
my estate at least one-third cheaper by free labor, than by 
slave labor.' The honorable gentleman proceeded to draw 
out the details of his calculations, and he presented an array 
of pecuniary considerations altogether new and imposing to 
the majority of the assembly. After he had finished his 
remarks, Mr. S. S hands, Member of Assembly, and a 
wealthy proprietor, observed that he entertained precisely 
the same views with those just expressed ; but he thought 
the honorable gentleman had been unwise to utter them in 
so public a manner ; for should these sentiments reach the 
ear of Parliament, it might induce them to withhold compen- 
i_ sation. * Colonel Edwards, Member of Assembly, rose and 
^ said he had long been opposed to slavery, but had not dared 
to avow his sentiments." 

When the question came before the Colonial Assembly 
similar discussions ensued. The abolition of sl^'cry was 
now seen to be inevitable. The only alternative presented 
to the colonists was the apprenticeship system, or immediate, 
unconditional emancipation. When the question came to 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 11 

this issue in the Antigua Assembly, both ho^\ei unanimously 
passed a bill in favor of immediate emancipation ; on the 
ground that it was the w'lse&i policy. 

The first of August, 1834, was the day fixed by Parlia- 
ment for the Abolition Act to go into effect. As the time 
approached, a heavy cloud lowered over the minds of most 
of the white population. A merchant of St. John's told 
Mr. Thome that several American vessels which had lain 
in the harbor, weighed* anchor on the 31st of July, through 
actual fear that the island would be destroyed on the follow- 
ing day ; and they earnestly entreated the merchant to 
escape with them, if he valued his life. ]\Iany planters be- 
lieved it would be unsafe to go out in the evening, after 
emancipation. Some timid families did not venture to go 
to bed on the night of the 31st. They waited anxiously for 
the hour of midniglit, fearing that the same bell which pro- 
claimed " Liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants 
thereof,'*" would prove the signal for general conflagration, 
and massacre of the white inhabitants.* 

* Tliere were in Antigua, at that time, 1,980 whites; 29,537 slaves; 
and 3,895 free colored people. 



CHAPTER II. 

A^;TIGUA, 4rTER IMMEDIATE, UNCONDITIONAL EMANCI- 
PATION. 

When ^he clock hegan to strike twelve, on the 31st of 
July, 1834,' there were nearly 30,000 slaves in the island 
of Antigua ; when it ceased to strike, they were all freemen ! 

I extract from Thome's West Indies the following ac- 
count of that glorious transition : " The Wesleyans kept 
* watch-night ' in all th.eir chapels. One of the missionaries 
gave us an account of the watch-meeting at the chapel in 
St. John's. The spacious house was filled with the candi- 
dates for liberty. All was animation and eagerness. A 
mighty chorus of voices swelled the song of expectation and 
joy ; and, as they united in prayer, the voice of the leader 
was drowned in the universal acclamations of thanksgiving, 
and praise, and blessing, and honor, and glory to God, who 
had come down for their deliverance. In such exercises 
the evening was spent, until the hour of twelve approached. 
The missionary then proposed that when the cathedral clock 
should begin to strike, the whole congregation should fall on 
their knees, and receive the boon of freedom in silence. 
Accordingly, as the loud bell tolled its first note, the crowded 
assembly prostrated themselves. All was silence ! save the 
quivering, half-stifled breath of the struggling spirit. Slowly 
the tones of the clock fell upon the waiting multitude. Peal 
on peal, peal on peal, rolled over the prostrate throng, like 
angels' voices, thrilling their weary heart-strings. Scarcely 
had the last tone sounded, when lightning flashed vividly, 
and a loud peal of thunder rolled through the sky. It was 
God's pillar of fire ! His trump of Jubilee ! It was fol* 
lowed l3y a moment of profound silence. Then came the 
outburst! They shouted < Glory ! Hallelujah!* They 
clapped their hands, they leaped up, they fell down, they 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. ^ 13 

clasped each other in their free arms, they cried, they 
hiughed, they went to and fro, throwing upward their unfet- 
tered hands. High above all, a mighty sound ever and 
anon swelled up. It was the utterance of gratitude to God, 
in broken negro dialect. 

" After this gush of excitement had spent itself, the con- 
gregation became 'calm, and religious exercises were re- 
sumed. The remainder of the night was spent in singing 
and prayer, in reading the Bible, and in addresses from the 
missionaries, explaining tlie nature of the freedom just re- 
ceived, and exhorting the people to be industrious, steady, 
and obedient to the laws, and to show themselves in all 
things worthy of the high boon God had conferred upon 
them. 

"The first of August came on Friday; and a release 
from all work was proclaimed, until the next Monday. The 
great mass of the negroes . spent the day chiefly in the 
churches and chapels. The clergy and missionaries, through- 
out the island, actively seized the opportunity to enlighten 
the people on all the duties and responsibilities of their new 
relation. "VVe were assured that, in every quarter, the day 
was like a sabbath. A sabbath indeed ! when ' the wicked 
ceased from troubling, and the weary were at rest.' Many 
of the planters informed us that they went to the chapels 
where their own people were assembled, and 'shook hands 
with them, and exchanged hearty good wishes. 

"At Grace Hill, a Moravian missionary station, the 
emancipated negroes begged to have a sunrise meeting on 
the first of August, as they had been accustomed to have 
at Easter; and as ft was the Easter Morning of their free- 
dom, the request was granted. The people all dressed in 
white, and w^alked arm in arm to the chapel. There a 
hymn of thanksgiving was sung by the whole congregation 
kneeling. The singing was frequently interrupted by the 
tears and sobs of the melted people, until finally, they were 
overwhelmed by a tumult of emotion. The missionary, 
wdio was present, said the scene was indescribable. 

"Planters and missionaries, in every part of the island, 

told us there was not a single dance, by night or day ; not 

even so much as a fiddle played. There were no drunken 

carousals, no riotous assemblies. The emancipated were as 

2 



14 THE EIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

far from dissipation and debauchery, as they were from vio- 
lence and carnage. Gratitude was the absorbing emotion. 
From the hiil-to})3 and the valleys, the cry of a disenthralled 
people went upward, like the sound of many waters : 
' Glory to God ! Glory to God ! ' 

'' Dr. Daniell, who has been long resident in Antigua, 
and has the management of several estates, told us that 
after such a prodigious change in the condition of the ne- 
groes, he expected some irregularities would ensue. lie an- 
ticipated some relaxation from labor, during the week that 
followed emancipation. But on Monday morning, he Ibund 
all his hands in the field ; not one missing. The same day, 
he received a message from another estate, of which he was 
proprietor, that the negroes, to a man, had refused to go into 
the lield. He immediately rode to the estate, and found the 
laborers, with hoes in their hands, doing nothing. Accost- 
ing them in a friendly manner, he inquired, ' What is the. 
meaning of this? How is it that you are not at work this 
morning ? ' Tliey immediately replied, ' It's not because we 
don't want to work, massa ; but we wanted to see you, first 
and foremost, to know what the bargain would be.' As soon 
as that matter was settled, the whole body of negroes turned 
out cheerfully, without a moment's cavih Mr Bourne, 
manager of Millar's estate, informed us that the largest 
gang he had ever seen in the field, on his property, turned 
out the week after the emancipation." 

In the days of slavery, it had always been customary to 
order out the militia, during the Christmas holidays, when 
the negroes were in the habit of congregating in lai-ge num- 
bers, to enjpy the festivities of the season. But the December 
after emancipation, the Governor issued a proclamation, that, 
" in consequence of the abolition of slavery,'' there was no fur- 
ther need of taking that- precaution. And it is a fact that 
there have been no soldiers out at Christmas, from that day 
to this. The Legislature of Antigua subsequently passed 
"an Act for the better organizing of the militia, the pream- 
ble of which reads thus : " Whereas the abolition of slavery, 
in this island, renders it expedient to provide against an 
unnecessary augmentation of the militia," etc. The public 
security and confidence were also strikingly indicated by 
the following military advertisement in 1836 : " Recruits 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 15 

wanted ! The freed men of Antip:na are now called Li])on 
to show their gratitude to King William, for the beneiits he 
has conferred on ihem and their fiimilies, by volunteering 
tlieir services as soldiers in his First West India Regiment. 
By doing this, they will acquire a still higher rank in so- 
ciety, by being placed on a looting of perfect equality with 
the other troops in his majesty's service, and receive the 
same bounty, pay, clothing, rations, and allowances." 

TESTBIONY OF PLANTERS IN ANTIGUA, IN 1837. 

The Rev. James A. Thome, son of a slaveholder in Ken- 
tucky, visited the British West Indies in the autumn of 1836, 
and returned to this country in the summer of 1837. He 
published a book, soon alter, from which I quote the follow- 
ing extracts : — 

" We delivered a letter of introduction to Mr. James How- 
ell, manager of Thibou Jarvis' estate. He told us that be- 
fore emancipation took place, he had been strongly opposed 
to it; being exceedingly unwilling to give up his power of 
command. ' But,* said he, ' I shall never forget how differ- 
ently I felt when freedom took place. I rose from my bed 
exclaiming, " I am free ! I am free ! I was the greatest 
slave on the estate ; and now I am free." ' He said that plant- 
ers, who retained their harsh manner, did not succeed un- 
der the new system ; but he never had any difficulty in man- 
aging his people. He found by experience that kindness 
and forbearance armed him with sufficient authority. The 
laborers on the estates he managed had been considerably 
reduced,* but the grounds had never been in a finer state of 
cultivation than at present. He said there would be a fail- 
ure of crops, not from any fault of the laborers, but on ac- 
count of a drought more prolonged, than he had known for 
tliirty-six years. He said, ' When ray work is backv/ard, I 
give it out in jobs ; and it is always done in half the usual 
time. Emancipation has almost wholly put an end to sulk- 
ing, or pretending to be sick. That was a thing which 

* This is accounted for, in many instances, by the women bemg 
withdrawn from field labor, to attend to their households ; and by 
children being sent to school. 



16 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

caused a vast deal of trouble duriui? slavery. Every Mon- 
day morning, regularly, I used to find ten or a dozen round 
the door, waiting for my first appearance, to beg that they 
might be let off from work, on account of sickness. It was 
seldom that one-fourth of them were really unwell ; but every 
one maintained he was sick ; and, as it was hard to contend 
with them, they were sent off to the sick-house. Now, that 
is done away with. The hospitals on many estates are put 
to other uses. Mine is converted into a chapel. At first, 
the negroes showed some disposition to put on airs of inde-. 
pendence ; but that soon disappeared. They are always 
respectful in their manners. In that particular, there has 
been mutual improvement. Planters treat their laborers 
more like fellow-men, and that leads them to be respectful, 
in their tin-n. They have now a growing regard for charac- 
ter; a feeling unknown to them in the days of slavery. 
Their religious and moral condition was formerly very low, 
notwithstanding the efforts of the missionaries; but now it is 
rapidly improving. 

" Mr. Armstrong, manager of Fitch's Creek estate, said 
to us ; ' During slavery, I often used to lie sleepless in my 
bed, thinking of my dangerous situation ; the only white per- 
son on the premises, ftir from help and surrounded by slaves. 
I have spent hours devising plans of defence, in case my 
house should be attacked by the negroes. I said to myself 
it would be useless to fire upon them. My only hope was 
to frighten the superstitious fellows, by covering myself with 
a white sheet, and rushing into the midst of them, like a 
ghost. But now I have the utmost confidence in my people. 
They have no motive now to prompt them to insurrection. 
They show great shrewdness in every thing that concerns 
their own interest. They are very exact in keeping their 
accounts with the manager. To a stranger, it must be in- 
credible how they contrive to live on such small wages.* 
Mr. A. informed us that the spirit of enterprise, formerly 
dormant in Antigua, had been roused since emancipation. 
Planters were now beginning to inquire as to the best modes 
of cultivation, and to propose measures of general improve- 
ment. One of these measures was the establishment of Free 
Villages, in which the laborers from all the neighboring es- 
tates might dwell, by paying a small rent. Real estate has 



THE HIGnT WAT THE SAFE WAT. ' 17 

risv^n, and mercantile business greatly improved. Several 
missionaries were present while we talked with Mr. A.; and 
the wliole company heartily joined in assuring us that a 
knowledge of the actual working of aBblition in Antigua 
would be altogether favorable to the cause of freedom. They 
all agreed that the more thorough was our knowledge of the 
facts in the case, tiie more perfect would be our confidence 
in immediate emancipation. 

" Dr. Ferguson, of St. John's called on us. He is a 
Member of Assembly, and one of the first physicians on the 
island. He said it had always appeared to him that if a 
man is peaceable while he is a slave, he would certainly be 
so when he was a freeman. But though he had anticipated 
beneficial results from the abolition of slavery, the reality 
had exceeded his most sanguine expectations. Had it not 
been ibr the unprecedented drought, the island would now 
be in a state of prosperity unequalled in any period of its 
history. The mercantile business of the town had increased 
astonishingly. He thought stores and shops had multiplied 
in a ratio of ten to one. Mechanical pursuits were likewise 
in a flourishing condition. A general spirit of enterprise 
was pervading the island. The streets and roads, in town and 
county, were much improved. The moral character of the ,y^ 
white population was brightening; one proof of it was that the 
old custom of concubinage was becoming disreputable. Eman- 
cipation was working admirably ; especially for the planters. 
The credit of the island had decidedly improved. Immediate 
freedom was infinitely better policy than slaver}^, or the ap- 
prenticeship either. 

" We visited Green Castle estate, about three miles from 
St. John's. The manager, Samuel Barnard Esq., received 
us kindly. He had been on the island forty-four years, en- 
gaged in the management of estates. He is now the owner 
of one estate, the manager of two, and attorney for six. He 
has grown old in the practice of slave-holding, and has sur- 
vived the wreck of the system. Stripped of arbitrary pov.'er, 
he now lives among the freed people, Vvdio were once his 
slaves, in the house where his grandfather was murdered in 
his bed by his slaves. The testimony of such a man is in- 
valuable. He said the transition from slavery to freedom Avas 
like passing suddenly out of a dark dungeon into the sunlight. 



18 * THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

He thought the Assembly had acted wisely in adopting imme- 
diate emanc'i}>alion. The endless altercations and tronbles of 
the apprenticeship system had thus been avoided. The ne- 
groes made no rio^or disturbance when they received their 
freedom ; and he had no ditficulty about their Avorking. 
Some estates had suifered for a short time. There Avas a 
pretty general fluctuation, for a month or two, owing to the 
laborers leaving one estate and going to another ; but that 
was because the planters overbid each other, to get the best 
hands. The negroes had a very strong attachment to their 
homes, and would rarely leave them, unless harshly treated. 
Very few of his people had left him. There were some in- 
conveniences connected with the present system, but they 
were incomparably less than those connected with slavery. 

" Dr. Daniell, manager of the Weatherill estate, has long 
been a resident of Antigua, and is thoroughly acquainted 
with its internal policy. He is a Member of the Council, 
owns an estate, manages another, and is attorney for six. 
Being a prominent member of one branch of the body which 
gave immediate emancipation to the slaves, his testimony is 
entitled to great weight. Pie said, ' We all violently resisted 
abolition, when it began to be agitated in England. We re- 
garded it as an outrageous interference with our property 
and our rights. But noAv we are rejoiced that slaver}' is 
abolished.' He did not think the system of apprenticeship 
had any tendency to prepare the slaves for freedom. The 
arbitrary control of a master could never be a preparation 
for freedom. Sound, wholesome legal restraints were the 
only preparation. Apprenticeship vexed and harrassed the 
negroes, and kept them in a state of suspense. The reflec- 
tion that they had been cheated out of their expected liberty 
six years would sour their minds ; and when they at last ob- 
tained freedom, they would be less likely to be grateful. 
The planters in Antigua had isecured the attachment of their 
people by conferring u[)on them immediate emancipation. 
There had been no deficiency of labor. E-tates throughout 
the island were never in more advanced condition. Noth- 
ing was wanted but rain. He frequently employed his people 
by the job, for short periods, and ahvaj^s with gratifying re- 
sults. The negroes acconipli>bed twice as much as Avhen 
they worked for daily wages, because they made more money. 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 19 

On some days tliey made three shillings ; three times the 
ordinary wages. He managed them altogether by mildness, 
and found it extremely easy. He had quite as much in- 
fluence over them, as he ever had during slavery. But 
Avhere managers persisted in habits of arbitrary command, 
they fiiiled. He had been obliged to discharge a manager 
from one of his estates, on account of his overbearing dispo- 
sition. If he had not dismissed him, the people would have 
abandoned the estate. Love of liome was such a passion 
with negroes, that nothing but bad treatment could force 
them away. He did not know of more than one or two 
planters on the whole island, who did not consider emancipa- 
tion a decided advantage to all parties. 

" Dr. Nugent, manager of Lyon's estate, has long been 
Speaker of the Assembly, and is favorably known in 
Europe as a man of science. No man in. Antigua stands 
higher. He owns one estate and manages another. He 
told us that, previous to emancipation, no man dared to 
express opposition to slavery, if he wished to maintain a \, 
respectable standing. Planters might have their hopes but 
they could not make them public, without incurring gen- 
eral odium, and being denounced as enemies of their country. 
The most general prediction was that the negroes would not , 
work after they were free ; but time had proved there was 
no foundation for that apprehension. The estates were 
never in better order than at present. On account of the 
stimulus of wages, there was far less feigned sickness, than 
during slavery. The sick-house used to be thronged with 
real or pretended invalids ; now the negroes don't go near 
it. The one on his estate was now used for a stable. He 
thought the capabilities of the blacks for education and for 
trades, were conspicuous. Emancipation had proved a bless- 
ing to the masters, and as for the advantages to the slave, 
they were too obvious to need to be pointed out. Lisurrec- 
tion or revenge was in no case dreaded ; not even by those 
planters who had been most cruel. After slavery was abol- 
ished, there remained no motive for rebellion. The expenses 
of cultivation were greatly diminished, and machinery and 
cattle more generally used than formerly. 

" Mr. Hatly, manager of Frey's estate, told us the im- 
proved industry and efficiency of his people had encouraged 



20 THE EIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 

him to bring several aclditi«nal acres under cultivation. 
They did not require such constant watching as formerly. 
They took much more interest in the prosperity of the es- 
tate, than the}^ did when they were slaves. He showed us 
his accounts for the last year of slavery, and the first year of 
freedom ; they proved a reduction of expenses more than 
one-third. He said, ' The old habit of feigning sickness is 
broken up. During shivery, this was more or less the case 
every week, sometimes every day, and it was exceedingly 
annoying. One would come, carrying his arm on his hand, 
declaring it had such a miglity pain in it, he couldn't use the 
hoe no way ; another would make his appearance with both 
hands on his breast, and, with a rueful look, complain of a 
great pain in his stomach; athird came limping along, with 
a dreadful rheumatlz m liis knees ; and so on, for a dozen or 
more. It was in vain to dispute with tliem, though it was 
often manifest that nothing on earth ailed them. They 
would say, " Ah, me, massa, you no tink how bad me feeh 
It's deep in, massa." But we have no feigned sickness now, 
and much less actual illness than formerly. My people 
now say they have no time to be sick. We formerlj^ h;Kl 
strong prejudices against the plough ; but now it is begin- 
ning to be extensively used, and we find it greatly reduces 
the necessary" amount of labor. I have already seen such 
decided benefits growing out of the free labor system, that I 
never wish to see the face of slavery again. We are re- 
lieved fi'om the painful task of flogging. Formerly, it was 
nothing but whip, whip, whip. Now we know no more of 
the las'h.' 

" David Cranstoun, Esq , manager of Athill's estate, and a 
magistrate, said to us : 'I get my work done better than 
formerly, and with incomparably more cheerfulness. I em- 
ploy fewer laborers, but my estate was never in a finer state 
of cultivation. My people are always ready and willing io 
work. I occasionally employ them at jobs, and always with 
great success. When I give out a job, it is accomplished in 
half the time it would have taken, if paid by the day. On 
such occasions, I have known them turn out before three 
o'clock in the morning, and work by moonlight : and when 
the moon was not shining, they sometimes kindled fires 
among the dry cane leaves to'work by. They would continue 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 21 

working all day, till four o'clock : stopping only i)r break- 
fast, and dispensing Avitli the nenal intermission from twelve 
to two. During slavery, the weekly expenses on the estate 
averaged £45 ($218.02). After em.ancipation, they aver- 
aged £20 ($1)G.90). The negroes are a remarkably tem- 
perate people. I have rarely seen^one intoxicated. We 
have no cause to fear insurrections now. Emancipation has 
freed us from all danger on that score. Among the advan- 
tages of the present system is the greater facility of managing 
estates. It saves us from a world of trouble and perplexity. 
I have found that the negroes are easily controlled by law ; 
more so, perhaps, than the laboring classes in other countries. 
I do not know of a single planter, who would be willing to 
have slavery restored. We feel that it was a great curse ; 
a curse to the planter, as well as the vslave.' 

" We breakl'asted at the Villa estate, within half a mile of 
St. John's. We found the manager less sanguine in his 
views of emancipation, than the planters generally were. 
This is easily accounted for. Tlie estate is situated. so near 
the seaport town, that his people have many temptations to 
leave their work, from which those on more distant estates 
are exempt. He admitted, however, that the danger of in- 
surrection M'as removed, that crime was .lessened, and the 
moral condition of society rapidly improving. 

" Mr. Bourne, manager of Millar's estate, said : ' Fearing 
the consequences of emancipation, I reduced my cultivation 
in 1834;, but soon finding that my people \vould work as 
well as ever, I brought it up to the customary extent, the 
next year ; and this year, I have added fifteen acres of new 
land. I have no hesitation in saying that, if I have a sup- 
ply of cash, I can take off any crop it may please God to 
send. Nothing but bad treatment ever makes the negroes 
leave estates on which tliey have been accustomed to live ; 
and in such cases, a change of management has almost uni- 
formly proved sullicient to induce them to return. Tlicy 
are decidedly less prone to be insolent now, than during 
slavery. The expense of managing estates has diminished 
one-third. Before emancipation, very little was thought 
about expedients for saving manual labor ; but many im- 
provements have already been introduced, and more are 
Buggestecf. Emancipation has proved an incalculable bless- 



22 TDE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

ing to the planters, by releasing them from an endless com- 
plication of responsibilities, perplexities, temptations, and 
anxieties ; especially, because it lias relieved them from the 
bondage of the whip. It was hard work to be a Christian in 
the days of slavery. Yes, I assure you, sir, it was very hard 
to be a Christian in th«se days.' 

" Ralph Higinbotham, Esq., U. S. Consul at Antigua, in 
1837, bore the following testimony: 'The general conduct 
of the negroes has been woi'thy of much praise; especially 
considering the sudden transition from slavery to unrestricted 
freedom. Their demeanor is peaceable and orderly. What- 
ever may have been the dissatisfaction of the planters at the 
commencement of the present system, they are now well sat- 
isfied that their properties are better worked, and their la- 
borers more contented and cheerful, than in the time of 
slavery.' " 

Some difficulties always attend every change in the struc- 
ture of society ; but if the change is based on true princi- 
ples, the difficulties are always temporary. They are like 
a stony pathway from a cavern into sunlight. So it proved 
in Antigua. Mr. James Scotland, the venerable merchant 
already alluded to, said to Mr. Thome: "The troubles at- 
tending emancipation resulted almost entirely from the per- 
severance of the planters in their old habits of dominion. 
Their pride was wounded by seeing their slaves elevated to 
equal rights, and they were jealous lest they should aspire 
to be on the same footing in all respects. In the early stage 
of freedom, they frequently used their power as employers 
to the annoyance and injury of their laborers. For the 
slightest misconduct, and sometimes without any reason 
wiiatever, the poor negroes were dragged before magistrates 
(who were planters, or the friends of planters), mulcted in 
their wages, fined otherwise, and committed to jail, or the 
house of correction. Yet those harrassed people remained 
patient, orderly, and submissive. Their treatment has now 
much improved ; for the planters have happily discovered 
that they sacrificed their own interests by keeping the culti- 
vators of their lands in agitation and suffering." 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 23 

TESTIMONY OP MAGISTRATES AND TEACHERS, IN ANTIGUA, 
IN 1837. 

Mr. Thome says : " The governor spoke to us unreserv- 
edly of the past and present condition of Antigua, and 
stated various particulars in which the Colony had been 
greatly improved by emancipation. He said planters from 
every part of the island assured him that the negroes were 
industriously disposed. They all conceded that emancipa- 
tion had proved a blessing to the island, and-he did not know 
a single individual who wished to return to the old system. 
He said that, during the recent Christmas holidays, the Po- 
lice Reports did not return a single case of arrest. He had 
been acquainted with the country districts in England, and 
travelled extensively in Europe ; and he had never yet 
found such a peaceable, orderly, law-abiding peasantry, as 
those of Antigua. The great crime of the island, ancVindeed, 
of all the West India Colonies, had been licentiousness; 
but they were certainly fast improving in that particular. 

" By invitation of tlae Governor, Ave attended him to the 
annual examination of the parochial school in St. John's. He 
requested that all the children emancipated on the first of Au- 
gust, 1834, might be called up. It was a most interesting and 
beautiful sight. Nearly one hundred children, from black to 
the clearest white, who two years ago were slaves, stood 
there before us free. When we spoke to them of emancipa- 
tion, their animated looks and gestures, and their lively tones 
in answering our questions, showed that they felt it was a 
blessing to be free. There was as much respectfulness, at- 
tention, and general intelligence, as we ever saw in scholars 
of the same age. His Excellency expressed himself highly 
pleased with, the appearance and proficiency of the school. 
Turning to us, he said, in a tone of pleasantry, ' You see, 
gentlemen, these children have souls/ 

"Teachers, missionaries, clergymen, and planters, uni- 
formly testified that the negroes were as capable of receiv- 
ing instruction as any people in the world ; and it was con- 
firmed beyond all doubt by facts we ourselves witnessed. 
We were happy to learn that the emancipated negroes mani- 
fested great anxiety for the education of their children. 
They encouraged them to go to school, and labored to sup- 



24 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

port them, though they hhd strong temptation to detain tliom 
at home to work. They also contributed a small weekly 
sum for the maintenance of schools." 

Concerning the moral condition of Antigua, IMr. Thome 
furnishes a quantity of Police. Reports, from" which I quote 
the following, as fair samples of the whole : " St. John's, Sept. 
1835. Capital offences have much decreased in number, as 
well as all minor ones. The principal crimes lately sub- 
mitted for the investigation of the magistrates seem to con- 
sist chiefly in trifling offences, and breaches of contract. 

" Oct. 1835. Although instances do occur of breaches of 
contract, they are not very frequent ; and, in many cases, I 
have been induced to believe that the offence has originated 
more in want of a proper understanding of the time, intent, 
and meaning of the contract into which the laborers have 
entered, than from the actual existence of any dissatisfaction 
on their part. 

"Jan. 1836. (Immediately after the Christmas holidays.) 
At this period, when several successive days of idleness oc- 
cur among the laboring classes, I cannot but congratulate 
your Honor on the quiet demeanor and general good order, 
which has happily been maintained throughout the island. 
During the holidays I had only one prisoner committed to 
my charge, and his offence was of a minor nature. 

" Feb. 183G. I beg leave to congratulate 3^our Honor on 
the vast diminution of all minor misdemeanors, and the total 
absence of capital offences. 

" Sept. 183 G. The agricultural laborers continue a steady 
and uniform line of conduct, and, with some {"ew exceptions, 
afford general satisfaction to their employers. Eveiy friend 
to this country, and to the liberties of the world, must view 
with satisfaction the gradual improvement in the character 
and behavior of this class of the community, under the con- 
stant operation of the local enactments. 

" Jan. 1837. (After the Christmas holidays.) I cord- 
ially congratulate your Excellency^ on the regular and steady 
behavior maintained by all ranks of society, at this particu- 
lar season of the year. Not one crime of a heinous nature 
has been discovered. I proudly venture to declare my 
opinion that in no part of his Majesty's dominions has a 
pupulation of 30,000 conducted themselves with more strict 



THE KIGIIT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 25 

propriety, at this annual festival, -or been more peaceably 
obedient to the laws. 

" Feb.^837. Crimes of any heinous nature are very rare 
araonj:^ the laborers. I may venture to say that petty thefts, 
breaking Fugar canes to eat, and offences of the like descrip- 
tion, principally swell the calendars of our Quarterly Courts 
of Sessions. In general, the laborers are peaceable, orderly, 
and civil ; not only to those who move in higher spheres of 
life, but also to each other." 

The foregoing Reports are all signed by " Kichard S. 
Wickham, Superintendent of Police." 

TESTIMONY OF CLERGY AND MISSIONARIES IN ANTIGUA, 
IN 1837. 

Rev. Mr. Jones, Rector of St. !MiilIips, said to Mr. 
Thome : — " The planters have always been opposed to im- 
provements, until they were etfected, and the good results 
became manifest, 'i'hey first said that the abolition of the 
shwe-trade would ruin the Colonies; next they said the* aboli- 
tion of slavery would be the certain destruction of the islands ; 
and now they deprecate the education of the emancipated 
children, as a measure fraught with disastrous consequences. 
But emancipation has proved a great blessing to the people, 
and the planters in this i)art of the island are gratified with 
the working of the system. The benefits of education are 
extending, and religious privileges greatly increasing. There 
has been manifest improvement in the morals and manners 
of the children, since education has become general. With 
regard to mari'iage, there has been a complete revolution in 
the habits ol the people. 

" The Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mission informed 
us tliat the collection in the several Vfesleyan Chapels, in 
1836, independent of occasional contributions to Sunday 
Schools, missionary objects, etc., amounted to more than 
$6,000. Besides giving liberally, according to their small 
means, to the Bible Societjfl, the emancipated slaves formed 
several Branch Associations among themselves, for the cir- 
clilation of the Scriptures. The contributions from Antigua 
and Bermuda, the only two islands which had then adopted 
entire freedom, were double those from any other two islands. 

3 . 



26 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

Among the Wesleyans, the freed negroes had formed four 
Friendly Societies, to help the aged and infirm, nurse the 
sick, and encourage sobriety and industry. In lf536, they 
raised money themselves and expended for those objects 
£700 currency ($2,100). In 1837, they had £600 ($1,800) 
m their treasury." To estimate this liberality properly, it 
must be remembered that the wages of these poor people 
was only a shilling a day, about twenty-four cents : and that 
they boarded themselves ; also, that, until the last three 
years, they had received no wages at all for their labor. 
There was no public poorhouse in Antigua ; a fact highly 
creditable to the emancipated people. 

A Report published by the Wesleyan Brethren, alluding 
to the emancipated slaves, says : " They always show a 
readiness to contribu%i to the support of the Gospel. With 
the present low wages, and the entire charge of self-main- 
tenance, they have but little to spare. Parham and Sion 
Hill (taken as specimens) have societies composed almost 
entirely of rural blacks; about 1,350 in number. In 1830, 
these contributed above $1,050, in little weekly subscrip- 
tions ; besides giving to special objects occasionally, and con- 
tributing for the support of schools." 

The West India Association for Advancement of Chris- 
tian Faith, in its Report for 1836, makes a statement which 
shows that marriages in one year, at that time, were twice 
as numerous as in ten years, during slavery. 



TESTIMONY OF THE ExMANCIPATED SLAVES IN ANTIGUA, 
IN 1837. 

Mr. Thome says : " A young negro, who had been a 
slave, rowed us across the harbor of St. John's. We asked 
him about the first of August, 1834. He said : ' Dar was 
more religious on dat day, dan you can tink of.' When we 
questioned him about the laws, he said the law was his friend. 
If there was no taw to take his part, a strong man might 
knock him down ; but now everybody feared the law. The 
masters would sometimes slash a fellow, let him dp his best; 
but the law never hurt anybody that behjived well. 

" We asked an old negro what he did on the first of Au- 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 27 

gust. He replied : ' Massa, we went to church, and tank 
de Lord for make a we all free.' 

" We' asked two men, who were masons on an estate, 
how they liked liberty. They replied : ' O sir, it is very 
comfortable ; very comfortable indeed. The day when free- 
dom come, we was as happy as though we was just going 
to Heaven. We used to think very much about being free ; 
but we did not hope it would ever be, till death delivered us 
fi'om bondage. Now we've got free, we wouldn't sell our- 
selves for any money. The money would soon be gone ; 
but freedom will last as long as we live.' We asked if they 
wouldn't be willing to sell themselves to a man they were 
sure would treat them well. They immediately replied : 

* We should be willing to serve such a man ; but we wouldn't 
sell ourselves to the best man in the world.' They said they 
were very desirous to have their children learn all they 
could, while they were young; for education was a great 
thing. 

" On our way to Grace Bay, we met some negro men at 
work on the road, and stopped to chat with them. We 
asked them if they danced on the first of August. They 
quickly replied, ' Oh ! oh ! no fiddling den I No, me massa. 
All go to church dat day.' One of them said, ' I always 
thought much about freedom, but I no hope eber to be free. 
One morning, jjout four o'clock, I was walking along de 
road, all lone, and I prayed dat de Saviour would make me 
free ; for den I could be so happy ! I don't know what made 
me pray so ; for I wasn't looking for de free ; but in one 
month de free come.' They told us they worked a great 
deal better, since they were paid for it. I asked one of them 
whether he wouldn't be willing to be a slave again, if he 
could always be sure of a good master. He exclaimed : 

* Heigh ! me massa ! Me nebber be slave, no more ! A good 
massa a bery good ting; but freedom till better.' They 
told us it was a great blessing to have their children go to 
school. • 

" An intelligent colored gentleman informed us that while 
the negroes were slaves, they used to spend, during the 
Christmas holidays, all the money they got during the year ; 
but now they saved it carefully, to buy small tracts of lan(5 
for their own cultivation." 



28 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

At the examination of one of the schools, several Tvomen 
who worked on the estates, who had children in the school, 
put on their Sunday's best, and went to hear the classes re- 
cite. When Mr. Thome spoke to one of them about the 
privileges her children enjoyed, her eyes filled with tears, 
and she replied, '' Yes, massa, we do tank de good Lord for 
bring de free. Never can be too tankful." She said she 
had seven children present, and it made her feel happy to 
have them learn to read. Another said, wdien she heard 
the children reading so well, she wanted " to take de words 
out of da mouts, and put 'em in her own." She added, " I 
tell you, massa, it do my old heart good to come here." 

" Old Grandfather Jacob, wdio had been a deacon in one 
of the Moravian churches, told us of the dungeons in which 
the slaves used to be confined ; and with much feeling, said 
his wife had once been put into a damp dungeon. Some 
got sick there, and were never well afterward. He knew 
one that died there. He had been flogged twice for leaving 
his work to bury the dead. ' Can't put we in dungeon noiv!* 
exclaimed Grandfather Jacob, with a triumphant look. 
'No lick we ! If dey no like we, tell we to go away; dat's 
all.' We asked if he was provided for by tlie manager. 
He said no, his children supported him. ' Now, when ole 
man die, him children make cotfin, and put him in de 
ground ! ' We asked whether it was not better for an old 
man to be a slave, so as to get food and clothing from the 
manager. He darted a quick look at us, and said, ' Rad- 
der be free.' 

" Mr. and Mrs. Mohne, Moravian missionaries, told ug 
that, though the low rate of wages was scarcely sufficient to 
support life, they had never seen a single individual, who 
desired to be a slave again. Even the aged and infirm, 
who sometimes suffered, from neglect of the planters, and 
the inability of their relatives to provide adequately for 
them, expressed the liveliest gratitude for the great Ijless- 
mg the Lord had given them.^ They would often say, 
' Missus, ole sinner just sinkin in de grave; but de good 
Lord let me ole eyes see dis blessed sun." ' 



CHAPTER III. 

IHE WINDWARD ISLANDS, DURING THE APPRENTICE- 
SHIP TESTIMOMT OF PLANTERS IN BARBADOES, IN 

1837.* 

Mr. Thome says: "Soon after we arrived in Barbadoes 
we visited Mr. C., manager of Lear's estate, about four 
miles from Bridgetown. He bad been a planter for thirty- 
six years. He was attorney for two other large estates, 
and had under his superintendence more than a thousand 
apprenticed laborers. He said, ' I often wished that slavery 
might be abolished, and other planters of my acquaintance 
had the same feelings ; but we did not dare to express them. 
Most of the planters were so violently opposed to emanci- 
pation, that even up to the 31st of July, they declared it 
could not and should not take place. Now, these very men 
see and acknowledge the benefits which are resulting from 
the new system. Slavery was a reign of terror. I have 
often started up from a dream in which I thought my room 
was filled with armed slaves. But all such fears have passed 
away. There is no motive for insurrection now. On the 
first of August, 1834, the people labored on the estates the 
same as usual. If a stranger had gone over the island, he 
would not have suspected that any change had taken place. 
I told my people, the day before, that under the new laws 
they were to turn out at six o'clock in the morning, instead 
of at five, as formerly. I did not expect they would go to 
work that day ; but, at the appointed hour, they were all in 
the field ; not one was missing. They do more work in the 
nine hours required by present laws, than they did in the 
twelve hours, exacted under slavery. They are more faith- 
ful, than when they were slaves. .They take more interest 

* The population of Barbad )es was 14,959 whites ; 82,807 slaves ; 
5,146 free colored people. 

3* 



30 THE RIGHT TVAY THE SAFE WAT. 

ill the prosperity of the estate, and in seeing that things are 
not destroyed. There is less theft, because they begin to 
liave some respect for character. They can now appeal to 
the law for protection ; and their respect for law is very- 
great. They are always willing to work for me during 
their own time, for which I pay them twenty-five cents 
a day. I have planted thirty additional acres this year, 
and have taken a larger crop tlian I have ever taken. The 
island has never been under such good cultivation, and it is 
becoming better every year. Real estate has increased in 
value more than thirty per cent. Emancipation was a 
great blessing, to the master, as well as the slave. It was 
emancipation to me. You cannot imagine the responsibili- 
ties and anxieties that were swept away with the extinction 
of .slavery. There are many annoying circumstances con- 
nected with slavery, which have a pernicious effect on the 
master. There is continual jealousy and suspicion betwe(m 
him and his slaves. They look upon each other as natural 
enemies. A perpetual system of plotting and counter- 
plotting is kept up. Flogging was a matter of course 
throughout the island, while slavery existed. It was as 
common to strike a slave, as to strike a horse. Very often, 
it was merely because the master happened to be in an irri- 
table mood, and the slave had no idea what he was punished 
for. I have myself, more than once, ordered slaves to be 
Hogged, when I was in a passion, and after I was cool I 
would have given guineas not to have done it. I believe 
emancipation will save the souls of many planters. If it is 
hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, it is 
much harder for a planter. I sometimes wonder at myself, 
when I think how long I was connected with slavery ; but 
self-interest and custom blinded me to its enormities. I 
lately met with a planter, who^up to the last of July, had 
maintained that the mother country could not be so mad 
as to take a step that would inevitably ruin her Colonies. 
Now, he would be the last man to vote for the restoration 
of slavery. He even wants to get rid of the apprenticeship, 
and adopt immediate, unconditional emancipation, as they 
did in Antigua. Such changes of opinion are very common 
among the planters. I think the expenses under appren- 
ticeship are about the same as during slavery ; but calci^a- 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 81 

tions I Lave made convince me that under an entirely free 
system, I conld cultivate this estate for $3,000 a year less 
than it formerly cost. I have no doubt the negroes will 
work, when their freedom comes in 1840. There may be 
a little excited, experimenting feeling, for a short time, but I 
am confident that things generally will move on peaceably 
and prosperously. The slaves were well acquainted with the 
efforts made in England for their emancipation. They used 
to watch the arrivjd of every packet with extreme anxiety. 
If Parliament had refused to abolish slavery, there would 
have been a general insurrection. While there was hope, 
they waited peaceably for release ; but if hope had been 
destroyed, slavery would have been buried in blood. The 
apprenticeship caused some dissatisfaction among them. 
They thought they ought to be entirely free, and they sus- 
pected that their masters were deceiving them. At first, 
tliey could not understand the conditions of the new sys- 
tem ; and there was some murmuring among them ; but 
they concluded it was better to wait six years more for the 
desired boon, than to lose it by revolt.' 

" Samuel Hinkston, Esq., manager of Colliton estate, and 
one of the local magistrates, gave an account similar in all 
respects, to that given by the manager of Lear's. He had 
been a planter for thirty-six years, and was universally es- 
teemed for his humane character, and close attention to busi- 
ness. He said his apprentices never refused to work in the 
hours required by law, and during their own time, they 
were always ready to work for him, for wages, whenever he 
needed them. When he had no occasion for them, they 
often let themselves out to work on other people's grounds. 
Real estate had risen very much, and it was universally 
conceded that the island had never been under better culti- 
vation. In every respect, the new system worked better 
than the old; but he looked' forward with pleasure to the 
still better change that would come in 1840. He believed 
unconditional freedom would remove all annoyances. His 
only regret was that it could not come sooner. 

" We were invited to visit Col. Ashby, an aged and ex- 
perienced planter, who resides in the southernmost part of 
the island. He told us he had been a practical planter ever 
since 1705. He had violently opposed abolition, and re- 



32 THE KIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT, 

garded the anti-slavery members of Parliament with nn- 
mingled hatred. He thought no punishment, either in this 
life, or the life to come, was too bad for Wilbei-force. When 
he told us this, he exclaimed, ' But, oh, liow mistaken I was 
about that man ! I am convinced of it now. The abolition 
of slavery has proved an incalculable blessing.' He dwelt 
much on the trustiness and strong attachment of the negroes, 
when they were well treated. They were never disposed 
to leave their employer, unless he was intolerably passionate 
and hard with them. He said he avoided, as much as pos- 
sible, carrying his apprentices before a special magistrate ; 
and he always found it easy to settle difficulties himself by 
a conciliatory course." 

Mr. Thome was introduced to one planter, whose name 
he does not mention, probably because his neighbors gave 
him the character of having been a cruel master, during 
slavery. He retained the prejudices natural to that class 
of men. " He complained that the negroes were an un- 
grateful, perverse set; the more they were indulged, the 
more lazy and insolent they became. He said he knew 
that by his own experience. One fault he had to find witli 
all his apprentices, both in the house and in the field ; they 
all held him to the letter of the law, and were always ready 
to arraign him before a special magistrate for any infraction 
of it. He also considered it a great grievance that wom'en 
with young babies were unwilling to work in the field, as 
they did formerly ; now 'they spent half their time taking 
care of their brats.' He however acknowledged that his 
apprentices were willing to work, that his estates were never 
under better cultivation, and that he could say the same for 
estates all over the island." 

Dr. Bell, a planter from Demerara, was on a visit to 
Barbadoes, and Mr. Thome made some inquiries concern- 
ing the results of abolition there. " He said the Colony was 
now suffering for want of laborers ; but after the appren- 
tices were free, in 1840, there would doubtless be increased 
emigration thitlier, from older and less productive Colonies. 
The planters were making arrangements for cultivating 
sugar on a larger scale than ever before, and estates were 
selling at very high prices. Every thing indicated the 



THE RIGHT WAX. THE SAFE WAT. 33 

fullest cor.fidence that the prosperity of the country would 
be permanent and progressive." 

Mr. Thome says : " We had repeated interviews with 
gentlemen, who were well acquainted with the adjacent 
islands ; one of them was proprietor of a sugar estate in St. 
Vincent's. They all assured ns that in those islands there 
reigned the same tranquillity that we saw in Barbadoes. 
Sir Evan McGregor, Governor-General of all the Wind- 
ward Colonies, and of course thoroughly informed respect- 
ing their internal condition, gave us the same assurances. 
From these authentic sources, we learned enough to satisfy 
ourselves, that in all the Colonies, conciliatory and equita- 
ble management has never failed to secure peace and in- 
dustry." 



Mr. Thome says : " The Governor, Sir Evan McGregor, 
told us lie had been five years in the West Indies, and had 
resided at Antigua and Dominica before he received his 
present a{)pointment ; he had also visited several other 
islands. He said that in no place he, had visited had things 
gone on so quietly and satisfactorily, to all classes, as in An- 
tigua. The apprenticeship system Avas vexatious to both 
parties. It kept up a constant state of warfare between 
master and apprentice, and engendered bitter feeling on 
both sides. To some extent, that was the case in Barba- 
does ; but it would doubtless pass away with the present im- 
politic system. He was so well satisfied that unconditional 
freedom was better, both for the masters and the laborers, 
that, if he had the powei-, he would emancipate every ap- 
prentice to-morrow. 

" Hon. R. B. Clarke, Solicitor General, candidly owned 
that while abolition was pending in Parliament, he had de- 
clared, publicly and repeatedly that it would ruin the Colo- 
nies; but the results had proved so different, that he was 
ashamed of his forebodings. He said there were many 
fears about the first of August. He rose early that morn- 
ing, and rode (twelve miles over the most populous part of 
the island ; and when he saw all the negroes peaceably at 
their work, he felt satisfied that all would go well." 



34 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

Major Coltliurst, Special Magistrate, gave a written tea 
timony to Mr. Tiiome, from which I extract the following : 
" The number of apprenticed laborers in my district, is 
9,480. In consequence of its vicinity to the large seaport 
of Bridgetown, it is perhaps the most troublesome district 
in the island. In the more rural districts, not above half as 
many complaints are made to the magistrates. There has 
been no trouble in my district, occasioned by the appren- 
tices refusing to work. They work manfully and cheerfully, 
wherever they are treated with humanity and consideration. 
I have never known an instance to the contrary. When 
the conductor of the estate is wanting in this respect, disin- 
clination to perform their duties is the natural consequence ; 
but the interference of the magistrate soon sets matters 
right. The number of complaints brought before me are 
much fewer than last year, and their character is also 
greatly improved. Nine complaints out of ten are for 
small impertinences and saucy answers ; which, consider- 
ing the former and present condition of the parties, is nat- 
urally to be expected; but the number even of such com- 
plaints is much diminished. It is amazing how few material 
breaches of the law occur in so extraordinary a community. 
Occasionally, there are a few cases of crime ; but when it 
is considered that the population of this island is nearly as 
dense as that of any part of China, and wholly uneducated, 
either by precept or example, this absence of frequent 
crime excites our wonder, and is highly creditable to the 
negroes. I do not hesitate to say that perfect tranquillity 
exists in this Colony, though passing through one of the 
most momentous changes, that ever took place in any age, 
or country ; the passage of nearly 80,000 slaves from bond- 
age to freedom. The apprentices are inclined to purchase 
their discharge ; especially when misunderstandings occur 
with their masters. When they obtain it, they generally 
labor in the trades and occupations, to which they were pre- 
viously accustomed, and conduct themselves well. They 
seldom take to drinking. Indeed, the black and colored 
population are the most temperate people I ever knew. 
The experience of nearly forty years, in various public sit- 
uations, confirms me in this very important fact." 

Testimony similar to the above is adduced from a number 



THE KIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 85 

of magistrates and police officers. They all agreed that 
vice and crime had diminished, and were disrainishing ; that^ 
the feeling of security was universal ; that land was rising ; 
and that even the most prejudiced planters would not re- 
turn to the old system, if they could. 

TESTIMONT OF CLERGT AND MISSIONARIES IN BARBA- 
DOES, IN 1837. 

Mr. Thome says : " Rev. Edward Elliott, the Archdea- 
con at Barbadoes, informed us that the number of clergy- 
men and churches had increased since emancipation ; relig- 
ious meetings were more fully attended, and the instructions 
given manifestly had greater influence. Increased attention 
was paid to education also. The clergy, and the Moravian 
and Wesleyan Missionaries had put forth new efforts, and 
were opening schools in various parts of the island. Before 
emancipation, the planters opposed education, and, as far as 
possible, prevented teachers from coming on their estates. 
Now, they encouraged it in many instances, and where they 
did not directly encourage it, they made no opposition. He 
said the number of marriages had very much increased. 
He was convinced that no bad results would have followed, 
if entire freedom had been granted in 1834, as in Antigua. 
While slavery continued, people did fear insurrrections ; 
but he' did not think five planters on the island had any fear 
now. 

" Rev. Mr. Fidler, Superintendent of the Wesleyan Mis- 
sions, told us the Methodists had been violently persecuted in 
Barbadoes, during the reign of slavery. Their chapel in 
Bridgetown . had been utterly demolished by a mob, and 
some of the missionaries obliged to fly for their lives. But 
things had very much altered since emancipation. Several 
estates were now open to the missionaries, and churches 
were being built in various parts of the country. One man, 
who helped to pull down the chapel, had now given land to 
build a new one, and had offered the free use of one of his 
buildings, for religious meetings and a school, until it could 
be erected. 

" Rev. Mr. Cummins, Curate of St. Paul's, in Bridge- 



36 THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 

town, told us his sabbath school had greatly increased since 
emancipation. The negroes manifested an increasing de- 
sire for religious instruction, and he was convinced thej 
had as much capacity for learning, as the whites. All the 
churches were now croAvded, and there was an increasing 
demand for more. Their morals had greatly improved ; es- 
pecially with respect to marriage. 

" We visited an infant school, connected with the Episco- 
pal church, established two weeks previous, for the chil- 
dren of the apprenticed laborers. The teacher, who has 
been for many yc^ars an instructor, told us he found them 
as quick to learn, as any children he ever taught. He had 
been surprised to see how soon the instructions of the school- 
room were carried home to the parents. The very first 
night, after the school closed, he heard the children repeat- 
ing what they had been taught, and the parents learning 
the songs from their lips. 

" Rev. Mr. Walton, from Mgntserrat, told us the planters 
on that island w^ere getting tired of the apprenticeship, and, 
from mere considerations of interest and comfort, were 
adopting free labor. There had been repeated instances of 
planters emancipating all their apprentices. He said a new 
impulse had been given to education. Schools were spring- 
ing up in all parts of the island. Marriages were occur- 
ring every week. The planters now encouraged missiona- 
ries to labor among their people, and were ready to give 
land for chapels, which were fast multiplying." 

NEGRO TESTIMONT IN BARBADOES, IN 1837. 

Mr. Thome says: "The tender of the sugar-mill at 
Lear's- was an old negro, with furrowed brow and thin gray 
locks. We asked him how they were getting along under 
the new system. He replied, ' Bery well, massa, tank God. 
All peaceable and good.' ' Then you like apprenticeship 
better than slavery?' 'Great deal better, massa. We'se 
doing well, now.' ' You like apprenticeship as well as free- 
dom, don't you ? ' ' Oh, no, me massa. Freedom till better.' 
* What would you do, if you were entirely free ? ' ' We 
mus work, massa. All hab to work, when de free come. 



THE EIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 37 

*How are jou treated now?' ' Bery well, tank God/ 
No flogging, no sliutting np in dungeon, now.' ' But Avhat 
makes you want freedom? You are so old, you coukln't 
enjoy it long.' ' Me want to die free, massa. It good ting 
to die free. And me want to see children free, too. 
4 



CHAPTER IV. 

TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE WEST INDIES, FROM 1840 

TO 1859. 

Joseph J. Gurney, of England, visited the British West 

Indies in 1840. At St. Chri.^topher's, the Solicitor General 
of the Colony told him that a small estate on the island 
sold shortly before emancipation, Avith all tlie slaves on it, 
for £2,000. He said, six years afterward, it would sell, 
without the slaves for -^6,000. IMi-. Gurney adds : "This 
remarkable rise in the value of i)roperty is by no means 
confined tc particular estates." " In this island, the negroes 
perform a far greater amount of work in a given time, than 
could be obtained from them under slavery. One of my 
informants said, 'They will* do an infinity of work for 
wages. ' " 

Sir William Colebrook, Governor of Antigua, and Mr. 
Gilbert, a clergyman, both gave the following testimony to 
Mr. Gurney : "At the lowest computation, the land, with- 
out a single slave upon it, is fully as valuable now, as it 
was, including all the slaves, before emancipation." Mr. 
Gilbert told Mr. Gurney that the compensation he received 
for his slaves, from the British government, was " a mere 
present put into his pocket ; a gratuity, on which he had no 
reasonable claim. For his land, without the slaves, was at 
least of the same value that it formerly was with the slaves ; 
and since emancipation, his profits had increased." 

At Dominica, Mr. Gurney found the emancipated laborers 
" working cheerfully, and cheaply to their employers, as 
compared with slavery." 

Concerning the islands he visited, Mr. Gurney says : 
" The change for the better, in the di'ess, demeanor, and 
welfare of the people, is prodigious. The imports are 
vastly increased. The duties on imports in St. Christo- 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. o'J 

plifi-'s were £1,000 more in 1838 than they were hi 1837; 
and in 1839, they were double what they were in 1838, 
within £150. This surprising increase is owing to the de- 
mand, on the part of the freed laborers for imported goods ; 
esf)ecially for articles of dress." 

In May, 1846, Dr. John Davy, author of a work on the 
West Indies, and brother of the celebrated Sir Humphrey 
Davy, wrote from Barbadoes, where he was residing, in 
official and professional employment, to the well-known Mr. 
George Combe, of Edinburgh. The letter was published 
in Tlic Liberty Bell, for 1847, and I make the following 
exti'acts from it : — 

" I could wish that those who still approve of slavery, or 
who may consider it a necessary evil, would pay a visit to 
the West Indies, especially to this island, and witness the 
effects of emancipation. I am much mistaken if they 
would not go back satisfied that the abolition of slavery has 
here been, in every respect, advantageous ; to the negroes, 
to the planters, and to the population generally. I have 
been in Barbadoes very nearly a year, and I have conversed 
on the subject with proprietors of estates, who formerly 
owned slaves, with merchants, and with colored people, who 
had been slaves. Among them all, there seemed to be but 
one feeling; that emancipation was a blessing, and that were 
it i)0ssible to bring back slavery, all would be opposed (o it. 

" When slavery existed, there was always fear of insur- 
rection, especially in times of danger, whether connected 
with war, or other calamities, such as fires and hurricanes. 
Then, it was necessary to have a standing militia, always 
ready to act. It was necessary to have ))eacons and forts, 
to give the alarm and afford defence. Now, there is a per- 
fect feeling of security. The population is considered as 
one ; bound together by common rights and common inter- 
ests. The militia has been disbanded, and is not likely to 
be re-organized, except on a threatening of war. Forts are 
no longer required. Some of them have been dismantled 
and are forgotten. Some are converted into stations for the 
police ; a body chiefly composed of colored men. Prior to 
abolition, from what I can learn, crime of every kind was 
more prevalent ; especially robbery. Then, there was al- 
ways at large a certain number of runaway slaves, who 



40 THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 

supported themselves by nightly depredations, and, occa- 
sionally collecting into large parties, broke into and plun- 
dered the houses of the opulent. Since the abolition of 
slavery, I have not heard of the murder of a white man, 
nor of any instance of revenge taken by the liberated for 
cruel treatment inflicted before liberation. I have not heard 
of any instances of house breaking, or of robbei-y, except 
of a petty kind, commonly designated as pilfering. The 
security, as to property, in which the opulent live here is re- 
markalile. But it is not surprising, v/hen we reflect on the 
easy condition of the people generally. Want is almost 
unknown, beggars are almost unknown ; yet there are no 
poor laws, and no provision made by law for the support of 
paupers. 

' " The freed laborers are contented with a shilling sterl- 
ing (twenty -four cents) a day for their work, men and 
women alike. This is sufficient to supply their wants, and 
to enable them to have some comforts, and even lu-xuries, 
where the ordinary articles of diet are cheap, and where 
most laborers have a portion of land, for which they pay 
rent. Commonly, on every estate requiring over a hundred 
laborers, there is a village, where those who work on the 
estate reside. To be near their work is an advantage to 
both laborers and proprietors ; and it being for the interest 
of the latter to attach the former to them, they are dealt 
with kindly and liberally. If other treatment is experi- 
enced, the laborers seek employment elsewhere, and have 
no difficulty in finding it. This, it must be admitted, is a 
happy change, and worth some pecuniary sacrifices ; but it 
is doubtful whether it entailed any such. I have been as- 
sured by many managers of estates, well acquainted with 
the minute details of expenditure under the former and the 
present systems of slave labor and free labor, that free labor 
is more economical. I admit that in some of the islands, 
especially the smaller ones, the landed proprietors have been 
great sufferers, and their estates have become depreciated 
in a remarkable manner, owing to a new direction of labor. 
But I am disposed to think that their misfoi'tunes have, in 
great part, been brought on themselves, by their injudicious 
conduct. In the first instance, they paid the freed laborers 
at a low rate, and thus tempted them to emigrate to the 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 41 

larger Colonies, where biirlier reniiineralion was offered for 
labor ; as in Trinidad and Demerara. Next, they endeav- 
ored to keep them at home, by allowing them to have as 
much land as they chose, and to keep as many cattle as they 
chose, without payment. This did, indeed, keep them at 
home ; but its tendency was to keep them from laboring on 
"the estates of the proprietors. Tiiey found it more for their 
interest to cultivate land on their own account. 

" Sometimes, a single fact will prove more convincing 
than a multiplicity of arguments. I will state one fact, of 
which I am assured on the best authority. The value 
of land in Barhadoes is so much increased since emancipa- 
tion^ that an estate will now sell for as much as it did for- 
merly, when the slaves necessary for its cidtivation ivere in- 
cluded in the purchase. Who would have believed this to 
be possible, before slavery was abolished ? 

"Now let us compare the moral coiidition of the popula- 
tion with what it was previous to emancipation. It is ad- 
mitted that, in the time of slavery, planters, attorneys, man- 
agers, merchants, etc., were licentious. Concubinage w^as 
common, and not held in discredit. There was a looseness 
of conduct and conversation, which could not fail to have 
an injurious effect on the mind. Youth was particularly 
exposed to this degrading and enervating influence, when 
there was no check to indulgence, no call to exercise control ; 
when too often a gentleman's house was a kind of brothel, 
and when instances occurred of planters keeping in slavery 
their own offs])ring by slave mothers. From what I have 
seen and heard, the higher classes of the white population 
now appear to be exemplary in their conduct. A natural 
change has also taken place with regard to the emancipated 
race. Formerly, a colored woman esteemed it an honor to 
be the kept mistress of a white man. Now, she considers 
it disreputable ; and ^iiw sucli connections are found. Mar- 
riage is more common among the black and colored people. 
The understanding is, that marriage is right, and concubin- 
age wrong. There is still a good deal of irregtdar connec- 
tion among them ; the marriage tie is loose, and the senses 
little under the control of principle. But these remarks 
apply to. the older portion of the population, whose habits 
were formed in slavery, when the marriage ceremony was not 
4* 



42 THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 

permitted, and Avhen chastity was not known, even by name. 
I believe they do not apply to the rising generation, a cer- 
tain proportion of whom have come under the influence of 
moral and religious training. The children of tlie laborers 
manifest great focility in learning at school ; and the men 
have great aptitude in learning whatever they take an in- 
terest in, belonging to their trades and occupations ; such as 
the use of implements in husbandry, and improved methods 
in the useful arts." 

Dr. Davy states that three-fourths of the laborers in An- 
tigua had cottages of their own, and small freeholds. Small 
as that island is, there were, at the time he wrote, about 
eighty-seven villages, all built by emancipated laborers, 
near the estates on which they were formerly ciiattels. Pie 
says : " It is a mistake, often committed, to suppose the 
African is by nature indolent, less inclined to work than the 
European. He who has witnessed, as I have, their inde- 
fatigable and provident industry, will be disposed perhaps to 
overrate, rather than underrate, the activity of the ne- 
groes." 

In 1857, the Governor of Tobago published this state- 
ment : " I deny that the peasantry are abandoned tc sloth- 
ful habits. On the contrary, I assert that a more indus- 
trious class does not exist in the world ; at least, when they 
are working for themselves." 

When Louis Philippe sent Commissioners to the British 
West Indies, to inquire into the state of things, with a view 
to emancipation in the French Colonies, they published a 
Report, from which I translate the following extract: "In 
Guiana, some planters declare the impossibility of getting 
along with the existing system. Others, on the contrary, 
assure us that they never want for laborers ; they pi-aise tlie 
assiduity of the blacks, and say they produce as much as 
under the former system. So much for the old planters. 
But when we consult the new planters, men who know co- 
erced labor only by tradition, we find among them entire 
unanimity. They all tell us that the labor is satisfactory, 
and that their agricultural operations succeed welL" 

Rev. Henry Bleby has been a missionary in the West 
Indies for thirty years. He resided there before emancipa- 
tion and since. On the 1st of August, 1858, he delivered 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 43 

an address jh Ablngton, Mass., from which I extract the fol- 
lowing : " Since I have been here, I have heard that 
emancipation is understood to have been a failure. I am 
prepared to give that statement an unqualified contradiction. 
In no sense whatever has the emancipation of the slaves in 
the British Colonies proved a faihire. I am at present 
laboring as a minister among the colored churches in Bar- 
badoes, and I can tell you that never, even in the most 
palmy Jays of slavery, was there such prosperity as now. 
This year, a long drought has lessened the crop of sugar ; 
yet they have raised more than double the amount of prod- 
uce they ever raised under slavery ; and with no greater 
amount of labor, than in the time of slavery. You cannot 
get an acre of Land, in any part of the island, for less than 
ibur or five hundred dollars. In my own neighborhood an 
estate of not more than two or three hundred acres was sold 
for nearly $90,000 in your money ; paid in cash. The case 
is the same in Antigua, where I lived three years. A mem- 
ber of my own church there bought an estate, which was 
sold under a decree of Chancery for $24,225. He has 
takm oiF three valuable crops, which have more than re- 
pai<i the original purchase money ; and he has been offered 
$48,450 for the property, and refused to take it. That is the 
kind of ruin that has come upon the West Indies because of 
emancipation ! 

"As for the moral condition of Barbadoes, I believe the 
criminal statistics, for the last five or six years, would com- 
pare, without disadvantage, with any country under heaven. 
We seldom hear of any thing like serious crimes. Intem- 
perance is not prevalent among the people. I have a mem- 
bership of seventeen hundred colored persons, and, during 
the last two years, I have not had one single case of intem- 
perance reported to me. Every sabbath our churches are 
crowded with people anxious to receive instruction. I 
know of no people in the world who will make such efforts, 
and GXFTcise such self-denial, to obtain education for their 
childrsA, as the people of Barbadoes. One of my colored 
churc^i members had just finished manufacturing his little 
portion of sugar, grown on part of the half-acre of land on 
which Ill's house stood, and on which he raised provisions for 
his family ; and he brought me six dollars in advance, as 



44 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

school fees for his four children the jiext twelve months. 
It is the only instance I ever knew of a man in his condi- 
tion pre-paying the education of his children for a year. It 
is a falsehood that emancipation has failed to improve the 
condition of the colored race. Througiiout the West Indies, 
in every island, the condition of the people is incomparably 
superior to v/hat it was in slavery. Some say if it lias not 
ruined the laborers, it has ruined the planters. I deny that 
statement, as plainly as I deny the other. Emancipation 
proved a blessing, instead of a curse, to the proprietors. 
What I have told you concerping the prices of land are 
facts that speak volumes in regard to the sort of ruin 
brought upon British pUmters by emancipation." 

Lord Stanley, now Earl of Derby, in a despatch, dated 
February, 1842, says : *' Experience has shown, what rc»a- 
son .would anticipate, that the industry of the negro, like 
that of all mankind, is drawn out just in proportion to the 
interest he has in his labor." Lord John Russell dcchired 
in one of his public speeches : " None of the most inveter- 
ate opponents of our recent measures of emancipation al- 
lege that the negroes have turned robbers, or plunderers, or 
bloodthirsty insurgents. What appears from their state- 
ments is that tliey have become shopkeepers and petty 
traders, huckstel's, and small freeholders. A blessed 
change this, which Providence has enabled us to accom- 
plish ! " 

Sir Francis Hincks, formerly Prime Minister of Canada, 
is Governor of the Windward Iskinds, wiiicli comprise Bar- 
badoes, St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Lucia, and Tobago. He 
is distinguished for financial ability, and practical good sense 
as a statesman. Being on a visit to England, he was pres- 
ent at an anniversary meeting in London, August Lst, 
1859 ; on w-hich occasion, he offered the follov/ing resolu- 
tion : "That, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the aboli- 
tion of slavery in the British Colonies, this meeting joyfully 
records its satisfaction in the retrospect of that great act of 
national justice and sound policy ; and emphatically affirm 
that the emancipated population of those Coloiiies have 
triumphantly vindicated their right to freedom, and the jus- 
tice of the Act of Eniancii)ation, by the signal progress they 
have since m-ide, morally, religiously, and politically." 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 45 

In speaking to tins Resolution, His Excellency saiJ: 
" It is not denied by anybody in the West Indies that the 
good results of emancipation on the social condition of the 
people have been very great. In Barbadoes, the progress 
has been especially marked. I know of no people of the 
laboring class anywhere, who have done so much for the 
education of their children, as the people of Barbadoes ; 
and results of the most gratifying character are to be seen 
in the social habits and mental acquirements of the people. 
I believe the planters themselves are convinced of the good 
results of emancipation. There can be no doubt in the 
minds of any, who investigate the subject, that slave labor 
is much dearer than free labor. I wish it to be understood 
that I have formed my opinion afler full inquiry into the 
circumstances of every British Colony, regarding which I 
could obtain information. 

'• Let me deal at once with the populai* delusion that the 
African Creole is naturally indolent ; for that it is a delusion, 
I have no doubt whatever. My opinion is in accordance 
with all that I have heard from the clergymen of the va- 
riou;- Protestant churches, as well as from those of the Church 
of Rome. It is likewise in accordance with the opinions 
expressed by the stipendiary magistrates generally, as I 
have found them in otiicial documents. A Barbadoes pro- 
prietor, who stands high in the estimation of all who know 
liim, writes to me thus : 'There never was a greater mis- 
take, than to suppose the negro will not work for hire. No 
man is more sensitive to that stimulus, or works more readily, 
more cheerfully, or more effectually, for the hope of rewai-d. 
It is perfectly astonishing how much a negro can do, when 
(leis under the influence of a wholesome stimulus; and how 
rtttle he will do, when that is removed.'" Gov. Hincks 
iaid : " I willingly admit that there has been a considerable 
withdrawal of labor from sugar cultivation in some of the 
Colonies, ov.'ing to a variety of causes. Among those causes, 
I am inclined to think that, next to the tenure of land, the 
insolvency of the proprietors has been the chief. I have 
never been able to trace an instance in which an estate has 
gone out of cultivation owing to want of labor ; but I have 
heard of many cases in which estates have been abandoned 
for want of capital; and of some estates on which the labor- 



46 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

ers liave beon fH^miP'^pfl with wagos; several months In arrear. 
The only wonder is, "that with sueh a land-tenure as that 
wliich exists in the West Indies, a single laborer has re- 
mained on the sugar estates. It is a tenure by the montli, 
snbjeet to ejectment by the owner. If the tenant has notice 
to quit, while his crops are growing, he is obliged to take for 
them whatever price the proprietor appraises them at. If 
the tenant himself gives notice of intention to leave, he is 
obliged to sacrifice his crops altogether. Tiie obvious ten- 
dency of tliis is to drive laborers from sugar cultivation to 
places where they can get land of their own. If I were . 
proprietor of a sugar estate, I would devote one-fourth, or 
one-third, of the cane land on the estate to the laborers. 
I would give them a good tenure ; for instance, leases renew- 
able forever, with a right to buy, at such a number of years' 
purchase as might be agreed upon. I would make it tlie 
interest of my lab'orers to occupy, or buy, land near my can€ 
lands, instead of at a distance. I would trust to their ad- 
mitted sagacity to cultivate the product that \vou\d pay them 
best. I would have a labor market at my door ; and I would 
have the spare time of my laborers employed in growing o 
a product, which must be brought to my works to be manufac- 
tured. Even if the resuh sluHild be that all my land was rented 
or sold, I should still make ample profit by my manufactory. 
Such, however, in my opinion, would not be the case. The 
large proprietor would still be the principal cultivator of the 
land, and the small one would combine labor on the estatej 
with labor on his own land in growing the cane; as is the 
case in Barbadoes. But this common-sense view of tht 
subject has not been generally taken. In Barbadoes alone 
so far as my knowledge extends, the laborers on the large 
estates cultivate the sugar cane on their own grounds ; and 
this is one of the reasons why the laborers in l^arbadoea 
cannot be attracted elsewhere. There, the laborer is depend- 
ent on the proprietor for the manufacture of his little crop 
of canes, while the proprietor is dependent on him for labor, 
when it is required. This mutual dependence has produced 
the best results." 

When Gov. Hincks visited Canada, April, 1859, he re- 
ceived an address from the Association for the Education 
of the Colored People. I make the following extraet. from 



THE EIGHT WAY THE SAFE WW. 47 

his reply: "While it is my own deliberate opinion that a 
very large amount of labor now wasted in the West Indies, 
or less profitably employed, could be obtained for the culti- 
vation of sugar, I am not prepared to admit that the success 
of the great measure of emancipation is to be tested in this 
way. The true test, it seems to me, is the progress of the 
African race. The best proof of the industry of that race 
is that large numbers have acquired, and are acquiring, large 
properties. They are amenable to the laws, anxious for the 
education of their children, and good and loyal subjects to 
the queen. There is still vast room for improvement ; but 
I certainly concur in the following statement by the Lord 
Bishop of Barbadoes, a prelate esteemed and respected l)y 
all who have the advantage of his friendship : ' I certainly 
think we have great reason to say, especially in Barbadoes, 
that the advantages resulting from the abolition of slavery 
have been quite as great as we could reasonably expect, in 
so short a time ; much greater, indeed, than the most sanguine 
among us, I believe, ever anticipated.' " 

Mr. Charles Tappan, of Boston, visited the West In- 
dies, in the autumn of 1857 ; and in January, 1858, Gov. 
Ilincks wrote hiiji a letter, dated Barbadoes, in answer to 
some questions that had been addressed to him. It was 
published in the National Era, and some oth^r papers. I 
make the following extracts from it. "With regard to the 
complaint against the negroes, that they are indolent, and 
have abandoned the sugar plantations, I admit (hat, in several 
of the British Colonies, the planters would generally vehe- 
mently maintain the correctness of the charge. I am, how- 
ever, bound to affirm that, after a most patient investigation, 
I have been unable to arrive at such a conclusion. There 
is no doubt that the condition of the laboring class in Bar 
badoes ought to be worse than in any of the other Colonies ; 
for land is exorbitantly dear, being from $400 to $600 an 
acre; while wages are from tenpence to a shilling (twenty- 
four cents) a day. There are only five working days in the 
week, except during crop time. With all these disadvantages, 
the small proprietors in Barbadoes, those holding less than five 
acres of land, have increased in sixteen years, from about 
IjlOO to 3,537. I doubt very much whether such a proof 
of industrious habits could be furnished with re<::ard to a 



48 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

similar class of laborers in any other country in the world. 
I- adduce this remarkable fact to pi'ove that there has been 
no want of industry in this island, on the part of the Creoles 
of African descent. 

" In all those Colonies where the sugar estates have been 
partially abandoned, we must look to other causes than th.e 
indolence of the laborers. In all -those Colonies, land is 
abundant and comparatively cheap ; and I need not remind 
any one acquainted with the settlement of land in America, 
that where land is abundant ^and cheap, labor will be 
scarce and dear. The negroes in Guiana and Trinidad pur- 
sue the same course as poor Irish emigrants in Canada, or 
the United States ; they endeavor to get land of their own, 
and to become proprietors instead of laborers. Unfortu- 
nately, the planters have never adopted a policy calculated 
to retain lal3orers on their plantations. At least, such is my 
opinion. I am fully convinced that the abandonment of 
the estates is more owing to the tenure, on which alone 
planters would lease land, than to any other cause. 

" In this island, there can be no doubt whatever, that 
emancipation has been a great boon to all classes. The 
estates are much better cultivated, and more economically^ 
Real estate has increased in price, and is a ftiore certain and 
advantageous investment, than in the time of slaver3\ The 
proprietor of an estate, containing three hundred acres of 
land, twelve miles from the shipping port, informs me that 
the estate, during slavery, required two hundred and thirty 
slaves, and produced on an average, one hundred and forty 
bogheads of sugar. It is now worked by ninety free labor- 
ers, and the average product the last seven years has been 
one hundred and ninety bogheads. During slavery, this 
estate was worth £15,000 (S72,675) ; under the appren- 
ticeship, it was sold for £25,000 ($121,125); the present 
proprietor purchased it a few years ago, for £30,000 ($145,- 
350), which I have no doubt he could obtain for it at any 
moment. I could multiply instances, where the results have 
been similar. 

" The improvement which has taken place in the religious 
condition of all classes, and the progress of education, are 
quite equal to what could have been reasonably expected. 
You have yourself made the acquaintance of men, who were 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 49 

once slaves, who are now in independent circumstances, and 
enjoying a large share of* public respect. It is impossible to 
compare the present statistics of crime with those during 
slavery ; for then the great bulk of ordinary offences, such 
as petty thefts and assaults, were not brought before magis- 
trates, but summarily punished by managers and overseers 
on the estates. Tliat there is much greater security for 
person and pi'operty now, than during slavery, does not 
admit of a doubt." 

Never was an experiment more severely tested, than that 
of emancipation in the West Indies. It seems as if God 
intended to prove to the world that the vitality of freedom 
was indestructible. In addition to the general state of insol- 
vency to which slavery had reduced tlie planters, and the 
difficulties attending the commencement of all great changes 
in the social system, there were an unusual number of for- 
tuitous calamities. In 1843, an earthquake made dreadful 
dev.astation in the Leeward Islands. Out of one hundred 
and seventj^-two sugar mills in Antigua, one hundred and 
seventeen were demolished, or nearly so. A third of the 
houses in St. John's were flung down, and the remainder too 
much injured to be habitable. Then came a hurricane 
which blew down churches, uprooted trees, destroyed a great 
many houses and huts, did immense damage to the sugar 
canes. And the crowning misfortune of all, was a series of 
severe droughts, year after year. Between 1840 and 1819, 
there were only two seasons when the crops did not suffer 
terribly for rain. Under such a combination of disasters the 
anxieties and sufferings of West India proprietors must have 
been very severe indeed; and there, as elsewhere, there 
were plenty of people ready and eager to attribute all their 
troubles to emancipation. Yet such is the recuperative 
power of freedom, that Commissioners who went to Guiana 
in 1850, to inquire into the condition of things, reported: 
" Every symptom of change for the better is apparent. 
Cultivation has extended and crops increased. .The laboring 
population are working more steadily, and evince signs of 
speedy improvement." 

In the first part of this Tract it has been mentioned that 
in twelve years, during slavery, the laboring class in elevea 
of the islands had decreased more than 60,000. In the 



50 THE EIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

twelve years following emancipation, in ten Colonies ihere 
was an increase of more than 54,000. That fact alone is a 
significant indication of the vast change for the better in 
their condition. 

The following statistics I copy from an able article in the 
Edinburgh Review , April, 1859. They are quoted from the 
Colonial Reports : — 

Barbadoes. In ten years, " between 1842 and 1852, increase 
of sugar exported, is 27,240 bogheads." The Report for 1851, 
states, " There has been -more sui>ar shipped from this island this 
year, than in any one year since it has been peopled ; and it is a re- 
markable fact that there will be more laborers' sugar made this year, 
than previously. By laborers' sugar is meant that raised by the 
negroes on their own patches of ground, and sentto the proprietor's 
mill for manufacture." The Report for 1853 announces "vast 
increase in trade. So far the success of cultivation by free labor 
is unquestionable." Report for 1858: " A great increase in the 
value of the exports." " The large proportion of land acquired 
by the laboring classes furnishes striking evidence of their in- 
dustry." 

Bahamas. In 1851, the Governor reports, " a great and impor- 
tant change for tlie better," in the condition of the people ; which 
he mainly attributes to " improved education." The rapidity with 
which these islands are advancing is indicated by the fact that the 
exports and imports increased in one year, from 1854 to 1855, 
£102,924 (S498,6G6.78). 

Grenada. Returns in 1851 and 1852, show an increase of 
trade, amounting to £88,414 ($428,355.83). Report of 1858: 
" Contentment appears to pervade all classes of the community." 
"A proprietary body, of considerable magnitude and importance, 
has already risen from the laboring class." " State of the finances 
most satisfactory." " A greatl}^ extended surface is covered by 
sugar cultivation." A considerable increase is noted in the exports 
of sugar, rum, and cocoa. Some remarks on the want of labor. 

Antigua. — Reports for 1858: " Satisfactory evidence is af- 
forded, by the Revenue Returns, of increase oi trade and mer- 
cantile business, consequent upon the revival of agricultural pros- 
perity." (There had been a depression in consequence of a great 
fall in the price of sugar in 1847.) 

Dominica. — Report for 1853: "The steady maintenance of 
production is full of promise as to the future." Report for 1857 : 
" The exports show a considerable increase." " Very considera- 
ble increase in revenue, and an equally marked improvement in 
the amount of imports." In the Report for 1858, the Governor 
speaks of the growing independence of the laborers, manifested 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. , 51 

" ill the small patches of canes, and little wooden mills hero and 
there dotting the plains around." 

Guiana. — Iii 1.S52, the Governor reports that the fall in tlie 
price of sugar, in 184 7 and 1848 (owing to tlie repeal of the tariff), 
was "so sudden and enormous, as to have almost annihilated the 
Colony, at that crisis." But he goes on to ^tate that " the revenue 
is now flourishing, population augmenting, education spreading, 
crime diminishing, and trade increasing." 

Montserrat. — In 1853, the Governor reports "increase of con- 
fidence, enterprise, and industry." " The improved and im})rov- 
ing state of the community is allowed on all hands." " Ko island 
in these seas exhibits a more decisive tendency to social and 
moral regeneration and improvement. The rural population are 
quiet, contented, and orderly." 

Nevis. — (This is a very small island ; about the size of a com- 
mon New Englaftd town.) Report for 1857 : " The roads appear 
as if the greater part of the population had new clothed them- 
selves ; and in the harbor, so often deserted, I now count ten 
ships of considerable burden." " There appears now to be at 
work an industrious spirit of improvement." 

St. Kitts. — Report for 1856: A larger quantity of sugar is 
produced now than in the time of slavery " (though on a smaller 
area). Report for 1858: "The agi-icultural prospects of the 
island are most encouraging. Its financial condition continues 
satisfactory ; so do the education returns. Attendance in schools 
is steadily increasing. Crime is steadilv diminishing. In one 
year, from 1856 to 1857, trade increased £106,233" (S514,G42.88). 

St. Lucia. — Report for 1853 : " At no period of her history, 
has there been a greater breadth of land under cultivation, than 
at the present moment." Between the four years ending 1842, 
and the four years ending 1856, the increase of sugar exported 
was 1,803,618 pounds. 

St. Vincent. — In 1857, the Governor describes "a really sound 
and healthy state of the Colony at present, and a cheering and 
])romising prospect for the future." He describes the rising villages, 
the grov/ing number of freeholders and leaseholders, and the 
steady progi-essive increase in the value of imports. In one year, 
from 1856 to 1857, imports and exports increased £156,633 
(§758,886.88) ; and he expressly attributes it to "increased cul- 
tivation and prosperity." In 1858, he describes tlie Colony as 
" in a most satisfactory state." " Agricultural operations largely 
extended." " Anticipations of continued progress and prosperity 
fully realized." 

Tobago. — The accounts had been dismal in 1852 and 1853; 
but an improved financial system was adopted in 1856, the result 
of which was a Report in 1858 announcing a " marked improve- 



52 ' THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

ment in tlie revenue returns." The Governor describes the la- 
borers as " well-behaved and industrious." 

Tortola. — This island, under slavery, exported 15,559 cwt. of 
sugar. Now it exports none at all. But the change is wholly an 
advantage. It is remarkably well adapted for the raising of 
stock. " The people, with few exceptions, arc owners of cattle, 
wjiieh they dispose of to great advantage." " The laborers appear 
fully sensible of the advantages of education to their children, and 
the latter manifest a great desire to benefit by the opportunities 
offered them." 

Trinidad is highly flourishing. In 1852, the crop was the 
largest ever shipped from the island ; and it has been extending 
since. The whole trade greatly increased since slavery. The Ilc' 
port for 1853 speaks of " marked improvement in the cultivation 
of the sugar estates." Export of sugar rose from an average of 
310,79 7 cwt. under slavery, to 426,042 cwt. in the seven years 
ending 1854. 

The writer in the Edinburgh Review says : " These spe- 
cific accounts of the several islands are borne out by the 
statistics and Reports that relate to our West Indies en 
masse. Lest it should be thought that these extracts are 
carefully culled, to produce a particular impression, and 
that if the reader had the tvhole Reports before him, he 
would find complaints and lamentations, we may at once say 
that they appear to us to be fair samples of the- views en- 
tertained by the Governors, and also by other gentlemen 
acquainted with the West Indies. The language of com- 
plaint is no longer heard. Throughout these Colonies, 
hope and congratulation seem to have taken the place of ir- 
ritation and despair. In all cases, the later the Report, the 
more gratifying it is found to be. 

" To men of business, one fact will seem almost enough by 
itself to show the sound commercial state of these Colonies ; 
viz., that, in the year 1857, the Colonial Bank received bills 
from the West Indies to the amount of more than £1,300,- 
000 ($6,298,500) ; and less than £8,000 ($38,7G0) were 
returned. Nor was there a single failure in the West India 
trade, during the severe commercial crisis of that year. 
Furthermore, coffee, cotton, wool, sugar, rum, and cocoa, are 
all exported in increasinof quantities. The total exports from 
Great Britain to the West Indies in 1857 were valued at 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 53 

half a milliom more ($2,422,500) than the average of the 
preceding ten years." 

Mr. C. Buxton made a speech m the British House of 
Commons, March, 1859, in which he said : " Because labor 
is free, and trade is free, the West Indies are now rising to 
a pitch of wealth and happiness unknown before. It would 
be impossible for me to lay before the House the immense 
mass of evidence, which demonstrates that fact. I am as- 
sured of it by mercantile men, I find it strongly set forth in 
the Reports from the Governors of the Islands, and in the 
statistics furnished by the Board of Trade. In the four 
years between 1853 and 1857, there has been an increase 
in the exports and imports of the West Indies and Guiana 
of £4,500,000 ($21,802,500). Considering what mere 
specks these islands look on the map of America, it is as- 
tonishing that their trade to and fro, in the year 1857, 
should actually amount to £10,735,000 ($52,011,075). It 
is altogether absurd to suppose this prosperity is owing to 
Ihe immigration of a few thousand laborers ; and in fact the 
islands which have received no immigrants are quite as 
flourishing as those that have. Interested parties describe 
the negroes as barbarous and idle ; but I find ample evi- 
dence that they are living in a high degree of industry and 
comfort; though I admit that they someAvhat prefer work- 
ing on freeholds they have purchased, to laboring for hire." 

The Edinburgh Bevieiu concludes its array of evidence, 
by saying : " A long and thorough investigation of the case 
has borne us irresistibly to the conclusion that, merely as a 
dry question of ecowow??/, emancipation has paid ; that it was 
an act of prudence, for which we, as a nation of shopkeepers, 
need not blush before that golden god, whom we are thought 
to worship so eagerly. Slavery and monopoly were bear- 
ing the West Indies to ruin. Under free labor and free 
trade they are rising to wealth. They are yearly enriching 
us more and more with the wealth of their fertile soil. In- 
stead of being the plague of statesmen and the disgrace of 
England, they are becoming invaluable possessions of the 
British crown. Never did any deed of any nation show 
more signally that to do right is the truest prudence, than 
<he great deed of Emancipation." 
5* 



CHAPTER V. 

JAMAICA.* 

I HAVE placed Jamaica in a section hy itself, because 
emancipation has there worked less prosperously than else- 
where, and the reasons for it need some explanation. I 
have already mentioned causes which were bringing all the 
West Indies to ruin, previous to emancipation. Tliese 
operated as powerfully in Jamaica as elsewhere. They 
were cursed with the same coercive system, which seems 
ingeniously contrived to make laborers lazy and shiftless, 
and to array them in the most stubborn opj)Osition to their 
employers. Tliere was among the white population the 
same haughty contempt for useful occupations, which inevi- 
tably brings extravagance and dissipation in its train. There 
was the same expensive retinue of attorneys, managers, and 
bookkeepers, with their mistresses, servants, and horses, to 
be supported out of the estate. There was the same neglect 
and fraud, arising from the absence of proprietors ; for 
" nine-tenths of the land in Jamaica was owned by absen- 
tees, mostly residing in England." There was the same in- 
judicious system of apportioning the soil into large planta- 
tions, to the utter exclusion of small farmers ; for slavery 
always renders the existence of a middling class impossible. 
There was the same desperate game of borrowing and 
mortgaging, ending in universal insolvency. Mr. Bigelow, 
one of the editors of the Is^ew York Eveniny Post, visited 
Jamaica in 1850, and carefully examined into the state of 
things. He says : '^ The island was utterly insolvent the 
day the Emancipation Bill passed. Nearly every estate 
was mortgaged for more than it was worth, and was liable for 
aaore interest than it could possibly pay. It will not be dis- 

* The population of Jamaica, at the time of emancipation, was 
87,000 whites ; 311,692 slaves ; 55,000 free colored people. 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 55 

pnted by any, who arc at all informed on the subject, that 
the whole real estate under culture in Jamaica, in 1832, 
would not have sold for enough to pay off encumbrances. 
This fact must have been disclosed sooner or later, even if 
slavery had been permitted to continue. Bankruptcy was 
inevitable ; and the rapid depreciation of real estate would, 
of course, have been one of the first fruits of such a catas- 
t!0})he. The Emancipation Act did not cause, it only pre- 
ci])itated, a result, which was inevitable. It compelled a, 
balance to be struck between the debtors and the creditors, 
which revealed, rather than begat, the poverty which now 
no effort can conceal." 

The Export Tables show a decrease of sugar, in ten 
3'ears, ending 1830, of 201,843 hogsheads. 

Tliese drawbacks Jamaica had in common with the other 
Colonies ; except, pei-haps, that the load of debt was some- 
^vhat heavier there than elsewhere. Why then have her 
complaints been so much louder and more prolonged, than 
these of her neighbors ? I tliink the strongest reason is to 
be found in the fact that the spirit of slavery was more vio- 
lent and unyielding there than in the other Colonies. There 
v/as more bitter hostility between masters and slaves ; mani- 
festing itself in shocking barbarities on one side, and fre- 
quent riots and insurrections on the other. There was a 
more furious opposition to abolition, and a more stubborn 
determination to make it operate badly, if possible. The 
great body of the planters had predicted ruin, and they 
seemed resolved that they would be ruined, rather than 
prove false prophets. Dr. Coke, one of the missionaries, 
says : " The persecutions we have experienced in Jamaica 
far exceed, v^ry far, all the persecutions we have experi- 
enced in all the other islands unitedly considered." Those 
who opened their houses to these religious teachers, in 
many instances, narrowly escaped being stoned to death. 
Rev. Mr. Bleby says : " Being determined to perpetuate 
slavei-y, they i*e,-olved to do all they could to get rid of 
Ciirlslianity, and keej) their people in heathen darkness. 
TiiC vvliole white population of .Jamaica banded themselves 
together in an Association, which they called The Colonial 
Union ; the avowed object of which was to drive every in- 
structor of the negroes from the island. Eighteen of our 



5g THE EIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 

churches ^vere levelled with the groiiiid. They clraggerl the 
missionaries to prison, got false witnesses lo swear against 
them, treated them with brutal violence, and did every 
thing thej could to put an end to their labors." One of the 
Methodist missionaries died in a dungeon, in consequence 
of the brutal treatment he had received from violent pro- 
slavery men. 

Another cause for the slow progress of improvement in 
elamaica is assigned by the writer in the Edinburgh Review ; 
viz., " the superlative badness of its government." Taxa- 
tion has been, and is op[)ressive, and the financial arrange- 
ments are said to be very injudicious. As late as 1854, 
the Governor, Sir Charles Grey, declared, " There is no 
system or consistency wliatever in tlie conduct of the finan- 
cial affairs of the Colony ; nor any recognized organ of 
government, or legislature, which has the power to bring 
about effective and comprehensive changes." 

There was a small minority of planters and merchants, 
who regretted the violence and blind policy of the majority; 
but they would have risked their property, if not their liv(3s, 
by venturing to express disapprobation. The excitement 
was prodigiously increased in 1832, by a formidable attempt 
at insurrection, in consequence of the numerous meetings 
and inflamed speeches of the planters, from which the slaves 
got the idea that the British government had made them 
free, and that their masters were acting in opposition to it. 

Such was the community into which the modified free- 
dom called apprenticeship was ushered on the 1st of August, 
1834. In an address delivered in Massachusetts, 1858, the 
Rev. Mr. Bleby said : " I was in Jamaica when slavery was 
abolished. This day, twenty-four years ago, I stood up 
late at night in one of the churches under my charge. It 
w^as a very large church ; and the aisles, the gallery stairs, 
the communion place, the pulpit stairs, were all crowded ; 
and there were thousands of people round the building, at 
e\erj open door and window, looking in. It was ten o'clock 
at nigiit, on the 31st of July. We thought it right and 
proper that our Christian people should receive their free- 
dom, as a boon from God, in the house of prayer ; and we 
gathered them together in the church for a midnight service. 
Our mouths had been closed about slavery up to that time. 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 57 

We could not quote a passage tliat bad reference even to 
spiritual emancipation, without endangering our liv(ss. The 
planters had a law of ' constructive treason,' that doomed 
any man to death, who made use of language tending to ex- 
cite a desire for liberty among the slaves ; and they found 
treason in the Bible, and sedition in the hymns of Watts 
and Wesley ; and we had to be vei-y careful how we used 
them. You may imagine with what i'eeliiigs I saw myself 
emancipated from this thraldom, and h^QQ to proclaim 
'liberty to the captive, and the opening of prison doors to 
them that were bound.' I took for my text, ' Proclaim 
liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants 
thereof! It shall be a jubilee unto you.' A few minutes 
before midnight, I requested all the people to kneel down in 
silent prayer to God, as befitting the solemnity of the hour. 
I looked down upon them as tliey knelt. The silence was 
broken only by sobs of emotion, which it was impossible to 
repress. The clock began to strike. It was the knell of 
slavery, in all the British possessions ! It proclaimed 
liberty to 800,000 human beings ! When I told them they 
might rise, what an outburst of joy there was among that 
mass of people ! The clock had ceased to strike, and they 
were slaves no longer ! Mothers were hugging their babes 
to their bosoms, old white-headed men embracing their chil- 
dren, andjmsbands clasping tlieir wives in their arms. By 
and by, all was still again, and I gave out a hymn. You 
may imagine the feelings with which these people, just 
emerging into freedom, shouted — for they literally shouted, 

'* * Send tlie glad tidings o'er the sea ! 

His cliains are broke, the slave is free ! ' " 

THE planters' STATE OF MIND, IN 1837. 

Three years after this event, Mr. Thome visited Jamaica. 
He constantly encountered men full of the old slave-holding 
prejudices. They gave doleful pictures of the ingratitude 
and laziness of the negroes. Things were bad enough, they 
said, but they were sure they would be much worse when the 
laborers were entirely free, in 1840. It was in vain to try to 
comfort them by telling them how well immediate eraancipa- 



58 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

tion had worked in Antigua. They listened incredulously, 
and returned to their old statement, that negroes would not 
work, unless they were flogged. Wlien they were freed, 
they would, of course, rob, murder, starve, do any thing, 
rather than labor. " There would be scenes of carnage and 
ruin, unparalleled in modern times." Mr. Thomson, one of 
the local magistrates of St. Andrews, belonged to tliis old 
school, who up to the last moment had resisted any cliange 
of system. Yet he wound up his direful predictions by de- 
nouncing slavery. He said man was naturally a tyrant, and 
it could not be denied that under slavery the most horri- 
ble cruelties had been practised. He admitted that he had 
formerly been very averse to sleeping on any of his estates 
in the country. If circumstances compelled him to spend a 
night there in the midst of his slaves, he not only bolted the 
door, but took the precaution to barricade it. Now, he had 
no fears. One thing he was ready to say in favor of ne- 
groes ; they were a very temperate people ; it was a rare 
thing to see one of them drunk. Similar admissions were 
made by other planters of the old school ; but they all per- 
sisted in the opinion that there would be trouble, in 1840, 
when the masters lost what restraining power they now had. 
The very best thing to be expected was that the negroes 
" would all retire to the woods, plant merely yams enough 
to keep them alive, and before long all retrograde, into Afri- 
can barbarism." 

It is obvious that men so completely under the dominion 
of passion and prejudice were not likely to use power ju- 
diciously ; and, unfortunately, the apprenticeship system, 
which was intended as a salutary preparation for freedom, 
proved nothing but a source of exasperation to both parties. 
It took from the slaves certain privileges, which the laws 
and customs had previously secured to them, and it did 
not compensate for this by giving them the stimulus and 
the advantages of wages. On the other hand, the new sys- 
tem fettered the masters, to a degree that kept them in a 
state of irritation, while it left them power enough to mani- 
fest their ill-temper by perpetual annoyances to their servants. 
In the preceding pages I have given the opinion of various 
planters and magistrates, that this system worked badly in 
all the Colonies ; but it was pre-eminently mischievous in 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 59 

Jamaica, because there the disease of slavery was of a pecul- 
iarly malignant type. The laborers were no longer property; 
and, with hard masters, no other claim to consideration re- 
mained when that was gone. They had made up their 
minds that the negroes would all quit work in 1840, and all 
they cared for was to get all they could out of their bones 
and sinews before that time. All children under six years : 
old were unconditionally free. What consequence was it to 
the planters, whether " the little black devils " (as they called 
them) lived or died ? Among the apprenticed laborers was 
a mother, who was let out by her master. Her child be- 
came alarmingly ill ; and her employer said it was not his 
business to provide doctor or nurse. With the little sufferer 
in her arms, she went to her master for aid ; but he turned 
her into the streets. It was t!ie business of the people to 
take care of their own " brats," now. She obtained shelter 
in the house of a colored man, and there the child died be- 
fore morning. 

A continual system of provocation was kept up. Masters 
and their white subordinates would take produce from the 
provision-grounds of the apprentices without paying them. In 
fits of anger, they would sometimes destroy their little gar- 
dens, or take them away when the crops were growing. 
The magistrates were overwhelmed with complaints, most of 
them of a petty character. An overseer would call out, 
" Work faster, you black rascal ! or I'll strike you." If the 
apprentice answered,^ " You can't strike me now," he was 
dragged before a magistrate, and punished for insolence. 
The fact that the power of punishmeut was transferred by f 
law from master to magistrates proved very insufficient 
protection ; for the magistrates were generally planters, or the . 
friends of planters. If one of them manifested a disposition 
to be humane, or even just, toward the apprentices, machi- 
nations were immediately on foot to get him turned out of 
office. The result was, thatTi large proportion of them were 
unprincipled men, the mere seffisk tools of despotism. The J 
negroes expressed it concisely by saying : " If massa say flog 
'em, he flog 'em ; if massa say send 'em to de tread-mill, he 
send 'em." Their common complaint of magistrates was, 
" Dey be poisoned Avid massa's turtle-soup;" that being 
their way of defining the influence of good dinners. One of 



60 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

the missionaries complained to Mr. Thome, of a whipping 
machine ingeniously contrived for torture, and placed very 
rear his house. He said when news came that the Governor 
was about to visit the village, the magistrate caused the ma- 
chine to be removed and hidden among the bushes. Mr. 
Thome was present at a w^eekly court, where a just and hu- 
mane magistrate presided. He says : " Managers, overseei's, 
and bookkeepers, all set upon him like bloodhounds on a 
stag. They seemed to gnash their teeth upon him in their 
impotent rage. He assured us that he met with similar in- 
dignities on most of the estates, every time he held his courts. 
From what we saw that day, we were convinced that only 
very fearless and conscientious men could be iaithiul magis- 
trates in Jamaica." Mr. Thome tells an anecdote related to 
him by the special magistrate in whose presence it occurred. 
It shows how hard it was, for men long accustomed to arbi- 
trary power, to submit to the salutary restraints of law. The 
magistrate had fined a manager $108 for various acts of op- 
pression complained of and proved by his apprentices. 
The culprit requested permission to speak; which being 
granted, he broke forth, in an agony of passion, " O my 
God ! Has it come to this ? Is my conduct to be ques- 
tioned by these people ? Is my authority to be interfered 
with by strangers ? O my God ! my God ! " He fell 
back into the arms of one of his bookkeepers, and was car- 
ried out of court in a convulsion fit. 

The Rev. James Phillipo, who was a Baptist Missionary 
in Jamaica for twenty years, says : " During the short 
period of two years, 60,000 apprentices received in the 
aggregate one quarter of a million of lashes ; and fifty thou- 
sand other punishments by the tread-wheel, the chain-gang, 
and other modes of legalized torture. Instead of diminution 
of the miseries of the negro population, there was a frightful 
addition to them ; inducing a degree of discontent and ex- 
asperation never manifested even under the previous sys- 
tem. Had it not been for the influence of the Governor, 
the missionaries, and some of the special magistrates, it 
would probably have broken out into open and general 
rebellion," 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. t. 

THE negroes' state OF MIND, IN 1837. 

Willie Mr. Thome was travelling in the rural districts, he 
talked ^Yilh many of the apprentices. He says: "They 
rJI thought the apprenticeship very hard ; but still, on the 
Avhole it was rather better than slavery. Then they were 
'killed too bad.' It was all slash, slash! Now, they 
couldn't be flogged unless the magistrate said so. Still, 
some masters were very hard ; and many of the apprentices 
were so badly used, that they ran away into the woods. 
They should all be glad when freedom came. 

"They gave a heart-sickening account of the cruelties 
of the tread-mill. Sometimes their wives were tied on the 
wheel when they were in a state of pregnancy. They suf- 
fered a great deal from that ; but they couldn't help it. We 
asked why they didn't complain to the magistrates. They 
/eplied, that the magistrates wouldn't take any notice of 
their complaints ; and besides, it only made the masters 
treat them worse. One of them said, ' We go to de magis- 
trate, and den, when we come back, massa do all him can to 
vex us. He wingle (tease) us, and wingle us, and wingle us ; 
de bookkeeper curse us and treaten us ; de constable he 
scold us and call us hard names ; and dey all try to make 
w^e mad ; so we sometimes say someting wrong, and den 
dey take we to de magistrate for insolence.' 

" We asked them what they thought of the household 
slaves being free in 1838, while they had to remain appren- 
tices two years longer. They said, ' It bad enough ; but we 
know de law make it so ; and for peace' sake, we will be 
satisfy. But we murmur in we minds.' One of the magis- 
trates told us that on several estates the house servants 
announced their determination to remain apprentices until 
the field hands were all free ; giving as a reason, that they 
wanted all to have a jubilee together. 

"We inquired whether they expected to do as they 
pleased when they wei'e free. They answered, ' We couldn't 
live Avidout de law. In other countries, where dey is free, 
don't dey have de la^v ? ' We asked what they expected to 
do with the old and infirm. Tiiey said, ' We will support 
dem. Dey brought us up when we was pickaniny, and now 
we come trong, we must take care of dem.' We asked 



62 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

whether they would work w^hen they were free. They 
replied, ' In slavery time, we work, even wid de whip ; now 
we work till better ; what tink we will do when we free ? 
Wo7it we work when we get paid! ' It was said so earnestly, 
we couldn't help acknowledging ourselves convinced. Some 
of them had to travel too far to market, to get back till Sunday. 
One of them said to us with tears in his eyes, ' I declare to 
you, massa, if de Lord only spare we to be free, we be much 
more 'ligious. We be wise to many more tings.' " 

FAVORABLE TESTIMONY OF PLANTERS, IN 1837. 

"At Amity Hall, Mr. Kirkland, the manager of tlie estate, 
intioduced us to his wife and several lovely children. It 
was the first and the last family circle we saw in that licen- 
tious Colony. The motley groui)S of colored children which 
we found on other estates, revealed the domestic manners of 
the planters. Mr. Kirkland considered the aboliti-on of 
slavery a great blessing to the Colony. He said the appren- 
ticeship v/as a wretchedly bad system ; but things moved 
smoothly on his estate. He said the negroes of Amity Hall 
had formerly borne the character of being the worst gang in 
the parish; and when he came to the estate, he found that 
half the truth had not been told of them. But they had 
become remarkably peaceful and subordinate. He said he 
looked forward to 1840, with the most sanguine hope. He 
believed complete freedom would be the regeneration of the 
island. Forty freemen would accomplish as much as eighty 
slaves. If any of the estates were abandoned by the labor- 
ers, it Avould be on account of the harsh treatment they 
received. He knew many cruel overseers, and he shouldn't 
be surprised if tliey lost a part of their laborers, or all of 
them. 

"Mr. Gordon, the manager of Williamsfield estate, is 
among the fairest specimens of planters. He has a natu- 
rally generous disposition, which, like that of Mr. Kirkland, 
has outlived the witherings of slavery. He informed us 
that his people worked as well as they had done under 
slavery ; and he had eve^ reason to believe they would do 
still better after they were completely free. He said he 
often hired his peoplS on Saturdays, and it was wonderful, 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 63 

■with what increased vigor they worked when they were to 
receive v/ages. Fifty free men would do as much lis a 
hundred slaves. He condemned the driving system, which 
%vas resorted to hy a great many planters. 

" Andrew Wright, Esq., proprietor of Green Wall estate, 
was described to us as a very amiable, kind man, who was 
never known to quarrel with any person in his life. He had 
a hundred and sixty apprentices at work, and said they were 
as peaceable and industrious as he could wish. He said 
where there was trouble with the people, he believed it was 
owing to bad management. He was quite confident that his 
laborers would not leave him after 1810. 

" Mr. Briant, manager of Belvidere estate, said he had had 
no trouble with his apprentices. They did as much work, for 
the length of time, as they did during slavery ; but the law 
allowed them a day and a half for themselves, and did not 
require them to work so early in the morning, or so late at 
night. He said the apprentices were not willing to work for 
their masters on Saturday, for the customary wages, which 
were about a quarter of a dollar. Upon inquiry, we ascer- 
tained that the reason was, they could make twice or three 
times as much by cultivating their provision-grounds and 
carrying the produce to market. At night, when they 
couldn't work on their grounds, he said they worked very 
cheerfully for their masters. Where there was mild manage- 
ment, he had no doubt the negroes would remain and work 
well. 

" In Bath, we met Avith the proprietor of a coffee estate, 
wdio gave a very favorable account of his laborers. He said 
they were as orderly and industrious as he could desire ; he 
had their confidence, and had no doubt he sliould retain it 
after they Avere entirely free. He felt assured that if the 
planters would only conduct in a proper manner, emancipa- 
tion would prove a blessing to the whole Colony." 

TESTIMONY OF MAGISTRATES IN 1837. 

William H. Anderson, Esq., Solicitor General, made a 
written statement, from which I extract the following: "A 
very material change for the better has taken place in the 
"^ntiments of the community, since slavery was abolished. 



64 THK ntGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY- 

Religion and education were formerly opposed, as subversiv^e 
of iTie security o^i property ; now, ihey are encouraged, in 
the most direct manner, as its best support. Many proi)rIe- 
tors give land for schools and chapels; also subscriptions 
to a large amount. Ilad the negroes been entirely emanci- 
pated in 1834, they would have been much further advanced 
in 1840, than they can be at the. end of the apprenticesliip, 
through which both masters and servants are laboring 
heavily. That the negroes will work, if moderately com- 
pensated, no candid man can doubt. Their endui'ance for 
the sake of a very little gain is quite amazing; and they are 
very desirous to procure for themselves and families as large 
a share as possible of the comforts and decencies of life. I 
liave not heard one man assert that it would be an advantage 
to return to slavery, even if it were ])racticable ; and I be- 
lieve the public begin to be convinced that slave labor is not 
the cheapest. In my opinion, the negroes are very acute in 
their perceptions of justice and injustice. Tiiey fully appre- 
ciate the benefits of equitable legislation, and would un- 
reservedly submit to it, where they felt confidence in the 
purity of its administration. They are ardently attached 
to the British government, and would be so to the Colonial, 
were it to indicate any purposes of kindness or protection 
toward them; but hitherto the enactments with reference to 
them have been almost wholly coercive. They are very^ 
desirous for education and religious instruction ; no man who 
has attended to the matter can gainsay that. Marriage was 
formerly unknown among them. Their masters considered 
them as so many brutes for labor and increase, and I fear 
they came to regard themselves so. But noAv concubinage 
is becoming quite disreputable, and many are marrying those 
with whom they formerly lived in that relation. The par- 
tial modification of slavery has been attended with so much 
improvement in all that constitutes the welfare and respect- 
ability of society, that I cannot doubt there would be an 
increase of the benefits, if there were a total abolition of all 
the old restrictions." 

" Cheney Hamilton, Esq., one of the Special Magistrates 
for Port Royal, said there were three thousand apprentices 
in his district. They were as quiet and industrious as tlioy 
ever were, and were always willing to work in their own time 



THE raCIIT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 65 

for wa;:!^e?. The district was never under better cultiva- 
tion. The masters were doin.u!; nothing for the education of 
the apprentices. Their only object seemed to be to get as 
much work out of them as possible. Tlie complaints 
brought before him mostly originated with tlie planters and 
were of a trivial nature, such as petty thefts and absence 
from work. He said if we would compare the complaints 
brought by overseers and a|)prentices against each other, 
we should see for ourselves which party was the most peace- 
able and law-abiding. Real estate is more valuable than 
before emancipation. Pro[)erty is more secure, and capital- 
ists, consequently, more ready to invest their funds." 

From the written testimony of E. B.. Lyon, Esq., Special 
Justice, I extract the following: "The estates of the Blue 
Mountain Valley, over which I preside, contain 4,227 ap- 
prentices. AVhen I assumed the duties of a special magis- 
trate, they were the most disorderly on the island. They 
w^ere almost desperate from disappointment in finding their 
trammels under the new law nearly as burdensome as under 
the old, and their condition in many respects much more 
intolerable. But they submitted, in many instances, with 
the most extraordinary patience, to evils which were the 
more onerous, because inflicted under the affected sanctitm 
of a law, whose advent they expected would have been 
attended with a train of blessings. I succeeded in making 
satisfactory arrangements between the masters and appren- 
tices ; and no peasantry, in the most favored country on the 
globe, can have been more irreproachable in morals and con- 
duct, than the majority of apprentices in that district, since the 
beginning of 1835. It has been my pleasant duty to report 
to the Governor, month after month, improvement in their 
manners and cT)ndilion, and a greater amount of work than 
duiing slavery. That proprietors have confidence in the 
future is evinced by the expensive repair of buildings on 
various estates, the enlargement of works, and the high 
prices given for land, which would scarcely have commanded 
a purchaser at any price, during slavery. In my district, 
the ajjprentices are invariably willing to work on the estates 
for hire, during their own time. In no community in the 
world, is crime less prevalent. The offences brought before 
jne are mostly of a trivial desci'iption ; such at. turning out 



66 THE RTGRT WAT TUK SAFE WAT. 

late, or answering irapatient]3\ In fact, the majority of 
apprentices on estates liave qui(^tly performed their duty and 
respected the laws. The apprenticeship has, I fear, retarded 
the rapidity with which civilization should have advanced, 
and sown the seeds of a feeling even more bitter than that 
which slavery had engendered." 



Hev. Mr. Crookes, of the Wesleyan Mission, said to Mr. 
Thome : " In many respects there has been a great im- 
provement since the abolition of slavery. The obstacles to 
religious effort have been considerably diminished ; but we 
owe that mainly to the protection of British law. I believe 
many of the planters would still persecute the missionaries, 
and tear down their chapels, if they dared. I abominate 
the apprentice system. At best, it is only mitigated slavery. 
I am convinced that immediate and entire emancipation 
M'ould have been far better policy." The Rev. Jonathan 
Edmonson, and Rev. Mr. Wooldridge agreed in testifying 
that the planters generally, were doing •' comparatively 
nothing to prepare the negroes for freedom." "• Their sole 
object seemed to be to get as much work as possible out of 
them before 1840." " Their conduct was calculated to make 
the apprentices their bitter enemies." 

The Wesleyan Missionary at Bath said : " There are 
some bad characters among the negroes, as there are every- 
where, among all classes of people. But generally they are 
docile and well behaved. They are eager for instruction. 
After working all day, they come several miles to our even- 
ing schools, and stay cheerfully till nine o'clock. IMothers 
with sucking babes in their arms stand, night ^fter night, in 
our classes, learning the alphabet. If they can obtain even 
the leaf of a book they make it their constant companion. 
They are very easily won by acts of kindness. Sometimes 
they burst into tears and say to the missionaries, ' Massa so 
kind ! Me heart full.' " 

Mr. Thome says : " While we were at Garden River 
Valley, we attended service in the Baptist Chai)el, on the 
summit of a high mountain, overlooking the sea. Seen from 
the valley^ below, it appears to topple on the brink of a 



THE RIGHT V.'AY THE SAFE ^YAr. 67 

frightful precipice. As we asceiuled the steep and winding 
road, Ave saw throngs of apprentices, coming from many 
miles round, in every direction. The men halted in the 
thick woods to put on their shoes, which they brought in 
tiieir hands up the mountain, and the women to draw on 
their white stockings. Mr. Kingdon, the pastor asked us to 
address his people, and we cannot soon forget the scene that 
followed. We had scarcely uttered a sentence, expressive 
of our sympathy with their condition, and our interest in 
their temporal and spiritual welfare, before the whole audi- 
ence began to weep. Some sobbed, others cried aloud ; in- 
somuch that for a time Ave Avere unable to proceed. When 
Ave spoke of it afterAvards to their pastor, he said, ' The idea 
that a stranger and a foreigner should take an interest in 
their Avelfare stirred the deep fountains of their hearts. They 
are so unaccustomed to hear such language from Avhite peo- 
ple, that it fell upon them like rain on the parched earth.' " 

JAMAICA BETWEEN 1837 AND 1846. 

As time passed on, the conviction deepened in the minds 
of magistrates, missionaries, and the more reflecting among 
the planters, that slavery, by its very nature, did not admit 
of any modification. The apprenticeship system proved 
" hateful to the slave, obnoxious to the master, and perplex- 
ing to the magistrates." Some of the apprentices bought 
their time ; and their orderly, industrious habits afterward 
confirmed the growing impression that entire emancipation 
Avas the best policy. The Marquis of Sligo, the humane and 
just Governor of Jamaica, Avas a large proprietor, and he 
manifested his sentiments by liberating all his apprentices. 
His example had great influence. Public opinion Avas again 
roused in England. Petitions from all classes poured into 
Parliament, begging that the apprenticeship might be abol- 
ished ; on the ground that the planters had violated the con- 
tract ; that they did not use the system as a preparation for 
freedom, but for pur[)0ses of continued oppression. The re- 
sult of these combined influences Avas that the field-laborers 
>vere not held in apprenticeship till 1840, but Avere entirely 
^manci{)aied, Avith the household slaves, on the first day of 
4ugust, 1838. Rev. James Phillippo, Baptist Missionary^ 



68 THE T^IGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

in Jamaica, thus describes tlie day: "On the preceding 
evenings, tlie missionary stations throughout tlie island were 
crowded witii people, filling all the places of worship. They 
remained at their devotions till the day of liberty dawned, 
when they saluted it with joyous acclamations. Then they 
dispersed through the towns and villages, sinking ' God save 
the queen ' and rending the air with their shouts : ' Freedom's 
come ! ' * We're free ! We're free !' ' Our wives and chil- 
dren are free ! ' During the day, the places of worship were 
crowded to suffocation. The scenes presented exceeded all 
description. Joyous excitement pervaded the whole island. 
At Spanish Town, the Governor, Sir Lionel Smith, ad- 
dressed the emancipated people, who formed a procession of 
7,000, and escorted the children of the schools, about 2,000 in 
number, to the Government House. They bore banners 
and flags with various inscriptions, of which the following 
are samples. ' Education, Religion, and Social Order.' 
< August First, 1838; the Day of our Freedom.' 'Truth 
and Justice have at last prevailed.' The children sang be- 
fore the Government House, and His Excellency made a 
speech characterized by simplicity and affection, which was 
received wnth enthusiastic clieers. The procession then es- 
corted their pastor to his house. In front of the Baptist 
Chapel were three triumphal arches, decorated with leaves 
and flowers, and surmounted by flags, bearing the inscrip- 
tions, ' Freedom has come ! ' ' Slavery is no more !' ' The 
chains are broken, Africa is free ! ' The enthusiasm of the 
multitude was wound up to the highest pitch. They wanted 
to greet all the flags ; many of which bore the names of their 
benefactors, ' Sturge,' ' Brougham,' ' Sligo,' etc. The flags 
were unfurled, and for nearly an hour the air rang with ex- 
ulting shouts, in which the shrill voices of the 2,000 children 
joined : ' We're free ! We're free ! ' ' Our wives and our 
children are free ! ' " 

Several of the kindly disposed planters gave rural fetes to 
the laborers. Long tables were spread in the lawns ; arches 
of evei'greens were festooned with flowers ; and on the trees 
floated banners, bearing the names of those who liad been 
most conspicuous in bringing about this blessed result. 
Songs were sung, speeches made, prayers offered, and a 
plentiful repast eaten. Mr. Phiilippo says : " The conduct 



THE KIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 69 

of the newly emancipated peasantry would have done credit 
to Christians of the most civilized country in the world. 
They were clean in their persons, and neat in their attire. 
Their behavior was modest, unassuming, and decorous in a 
high degree. Thei-e was no crowding, no vulgar familiarity, 
but all w^ere courteous and obliging to each other, as mem- 
bers of one harmonious family. There was no dancing, 
gambling, or carousing. All seemed to have a sense of the 
obligations they owed to their masters, to each other, and to 
the civil authorities. The masters who were present at these 
fetes congratulated their former dependents on the boon they 
had received, and hopes were mutually expressed that all 
past differences and wrongs might be forgiven. Harmony 
and cheerfulness smiled on every countenance ; and the de- 
mon of discord disappeared, for a season. On some of the 
estates where these festivals were held, the laborers, with 
few individual exceptions, went to work as usual on the 
following day. Many of them gave their first week of free 
labor as an offering of good-iuill to their masters. Thus the 
period, from which many of the planters had apprehended 
the worst consequences, passed away in peace and harmony. 
Not a single instance of violence or insubordination, of seri- 
ous disagreement or of intemperance, occurred in any part 
of the island." 

After this safe transition to a better state of things, the 
public were informed of no troubles in Jamaica for several 
years, except deficiency of labor, and diminished production 
of sugar. Pro-slavery presses, both in England and Amer- 
ica, eagerly proclaimed these deficiencies as the results of 
emancipation. But enough has been already said to prove, 
to any candid and reflecting mind, that these effects were 
attributable to other causes. First. Emancipation found 
nearly all the estates on the island heavily mortgaged ; 
most of them for more than they were worth. The com- 
pensation money, received from the British government, 
was soon swallow-ed up, the planters hardly knew how. It 
helped them to pay off a portion of their long-accumulating 
arrears, but left them still involved in pecuniary difficulties. 
Many of them had not money to pay for labor ; and some, 
who had it, retained too much of the spirit of slave-holding 
to b.e scrupulous about paying the negroes for their work. 



y 



70 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

Rev. Mr. Bleby says : '' T know liiindreds of colored la- 
borers ill Jamaica, who labored on the sugar plantations, 
and were defrauded of their wages. . I knew a man who had 
a salary of one thousand pounds (^4,845) from an office 
under government, who employed two or three hundred la- 
borers several months, then took the benefit of the Insol- 
vent Act, and never paid them a cent. One of those great 
planting attorneys, who had fifty or sixty estates under his 
management, boasted to a friend of mine, that be made 
them profitable, by cheating the laborers out of balf their 
wages, by one method or another. Is it surprising that the 
colored people should prefer to raise produce on a few acres 
of their own, to working on the plantations without wages ? 
I was in Kingston when the railroad was made. It was 
done entirely by the colored people. The manager told me 
he could not desire laborers to work better. And what was 
the reason ? Every Saturday night he paid them- their 
wages." 

Second. The tenure by which land was held was very 
precarious, as has already been explained by Governor 
Ilincks. Planters in such a perverse state of mind as many 
were in Jamaica, were, of course, not slow to avail them- 
selves of this instrument of oppression. When the eman- 
cipated laborers hired a hut and a bit of land on the estates 
where they had been accustomed to work, they were re- 
quired to pay rent several times over. According to the 
statement of the Rev. Mr. Bleby, " The employer, ^vould 
say to the husband, ' You must pay in labor, for the rent of 
your h§use.' Then he would say the same to the wife ; and 
perhaps to other adult members of the family. Thus they 
manageed to get rent paid twice, and sometimes four times 
over." If the tenant expressed dissatisfaction, or gave of- 
fence in any way, or if his capricious landlord merely 
wanted to make him feel that he was still in his power, he 
was ejected at once, and obliged to take for his crops what- 
ever the despotic employer saw fit to value them at. Such 
tyrannical proceedings were common all over the island. 
If a majority of the planters had intended to drive the ne- 
groes away from their estates, and force them " to skulk in 
the woods and live upon yams," as they had predicted, they 
could not have adopted a policy better j^uiled to their pur- 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 71 

po>e. The negroes, notwithstanding their strong lotal at- 
tachments, were driven from tlie sugar estates bj these per- 
secutions ; but they did far better than " skulk in tlie woods, 
and retrograde to barbarism," as I shall presently show. 

Rev. Mr. Philiipo, writing in 1843, says : " The planters 
persisted in their designs, and, at last multitudes of laborers 
were compelled to sacrifice their feelings of attachment to 
their domiciles, and to establish themselves in freeholds of 
of their own. Hence, and from no other cause, arose those 
reports of insolence and idleness, so widely and persever- 
ingly circulated against the peasantry. It is delightful to 
add that the injustice and impolicy of such conduct have 
now become generally manifest ; so that the causes of mu- 
tual dissatisfaction are now, to a considerable extent, ex- 
tinct." 

An intelligent gentleman in St. Thomas said to Mr. 
Thome, " The planters have set their hearts upon the ruin 
of the island, and they will be sorely disappointed, if it 
shouldn't come." But this disappointment was in reserve 
fer them, and no ingenuity of theirs could prevent it. As 
individuals, they suffered for their blind and narrow policy ; 
but public prosperity began to move steadily onward. 

The Lord Bishop of Jamaica, in a circular recommending 
the establishment of schools for the emancipated peasantry, 
dated November, 1838, makes the following statement: 
" The peaceable demeanor of the objects of our instruction, 
and their generally acknowledged good behavior, are the 
natural fruits of being made better acquainted with the sav- 
ing truths of the gospel ; and no stronger proof can. be 
given of their desire to obtain this knowledge than the fact 
that their choice in fixing their settlements is often influ- 
enced by the oppoi'tunities afforded for acquiring moral and 
religious instruction for themselves and their children." 

Early in 1839, Sir Lionel Smith, Governor of the island, 
made the following statement, in an official document : " I 
have sent numerous testimonies to England, to show that 
where labor has been encouraged by fair remuneration and 
kind treatment, it has nowhere been wanting." 

A part of the outcry concerning want of labor, and the 
depreciation of property arose from managers and att( meys, 
who conducted affairs for absentee proprietors. They 



72 THE RICIIT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

wanted to buy estates themselves, at a low price ; tbereforo, 
they irritated and discouraged the laborers, with the inten- 
tion of driving them from the estates; and in some cases, they 
burned the sugar cane after it was gathered ; giving as a 
reason that, from scarcity of labor, they could not convert it 
into sugar, except at prices which would entail a loss. The 
statements of such interested and unprincipled men were 
eagerly republished by pro-slavery papers in England and 
America; but, in this country, it was impossible for friends 
of freedom to procure any extensive republication of such 
testimony as the following, from the Rev. D. S. Ingrahani, 
pastor of a church near Kingston, Jamaica, who visited the 
United States in 1840, and gave the following written testi- 
mony for publication : '• Emancipation has greatly improved 
the value of all kinds of property. Land near my residence, 
which sold for fifteen dollars an aci-e a short time before 
emancipation, has been sold recently for sixty dollars an 
acre ; and had there been ten times as much for sale, it 
would have sold readily for that price. I know of much 
land that now leases for more money m one year, than i|; 
would have sold for under slavery. Peace and safety have 
been promoted by emancipation. It was formerly thought 
necessary to have six regiments of soldiers, to keep the 
slaves in subjection, and also for the militia to meet monthly 
in each parish. Since freedom was declared, half of the 
soldiers have been removed ; and where I live, the militia 
have entirely ceased to muster.* Emancipation has dimin- 
ished crime. Jails formerlj^ well filled, and often crowded, now 
have few tenants. A part of the house of correction in my 
parish is converted into a hospital, and the bloody old tread- 
mill is incrusted with rust. Emancipation has promoted in- 
dustry. A gentleman, who has been a planter in Jamaica 
for twenty years, told me there was undoubtedly far more 
work done in the island now than ever before. Indeed, any 
one can see that such is the case. Wherever you look, you 
see the forests giving place to gardens and cornfields, and' 
numbers of comfortable houses growing up under the hand 

* During slavei-y, the military defence, of the West Indies annually 
cost EngUind £2,000,000 ($9,960,000;. For the single insurrection of 
1832, in Jamaica, it cost the government $800,000 : and private prop- 
erty was destroyed, to the amount of $6,000,000. 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFI? WAY. 73 

of industry and perseverance. Many "vmages have been 
built up entirely since freedom by those who were formerly 
slaves. A spirit of improvement has been called forth. 
Roads and sti-eets are being McAdamized ; there are many 
new markets in different parts of the country. Agricultural 
Societies are forming ; and ploughs are coming into use. 
An overseer lately told me that he now ploughed upland for 
canes at one dollar and seventy-five cents per acre, instead 
of paying fifteen dollars an acre, to have it dug up, as formerly. 
There is a universal desire for knowledge among the eman- 
cipated people. They often send twenty miles in search of 
a preacher, or teacher. They have come to me and pleaded 
with an eloquence that no Christian could resist, saying : 
' Minister, do come and see we ! We all ignorant ; and so 
much big pickaniny, that don't know nothing. Do try for 
get we a teacher ! We will take care of him.' " 

Joseph J. Gurney, who visited Jamaica in 1840, says : 
" The imports of the island are rapidly fhcreasing ; trade 
improving; towns thriving; new villages rising up in every 
direction ; property is much enhanced in value ; well- 
managed estates are productive and profitable ; expenses of 
management diminished ; short methods of labor adopted ; 
provisions cultivated on a larger scale than ever ; and the 
people, wherever they are properly treated, are industrious, 
contented, and gradually accumulating wealth. Above all, 
the morals of the community are improving, and education 
is ra])idly spreading. 

" Under slavery, two hundred slaves were supported on 
the Papine estate ; it is now worked by forty-three laborers. 
The estate of Halberstadt used to support one hundred and 
seventy slaves ; now fifty-four laborers do all the work re- 
quired. The support of the slaves on this estate cost £850 
ammally ; the annual wages of the free laborers amount to 
£607 105. 3^. 

" ' Do you see that excellent new stone w^all round the 
field below us ? ' said a young physician. ' The necessary 
labor could not have been hired under slavery, or the 
apprenticeship, at less than thirteen dollars per chain ; under 
freedom it cost only four dollars per chain. Still more re- 
markable is the fact that the whole of it was built, under the 
stimulus of job-work, by an invalid negro, who, under 
7 



74 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 

slavery, had been given up to total inaction.' Sucli was the 
fresh blood infused into the veins of this decrepit person by 
the genial hand of freedom, that he had executed a noble 
work, greatly improved his master's property, and realized 
for himself a handsome sum of money." 

Dr. Stewart said to Mr. Gurney, " I believe, in my con- 
science, that property in Jamaica, without the slaves, is as 
valuable as it formerly was with them; and I believe its 
value would be doubled by sincerely turning away from all 
relics of slavery to the honest free working of a free sys- 
tem." 

A despatch from Sir Charles Metcalfe, read in the House 
of Commons, 1842, declares : " The present condition of the 
peasantry of Jamaica is very striking. They are much im- 
proved in their habits, and are generally well-ordered and 
free from crime. They subscribe for their respective 
churches, and are constant in their attendance on divine 
worship, wearing good clothes, and many of them riding on 
horses. They send their children to school, and pay for 
their schooling." " It appears wonderful how so much has 
been accomplished in the island, in building, planting, dig- 
ging, and making fences. The number of freeholders, who 
have become freeholders by their own industry and accumu- 
lation, amounted in 1840 to 7,340." 

The Jamaica Morninfj Journal in Fel)ruary, 1843, says : 
" It is gratifying to observe the impetus which has been given 
to agricultural and literary societies. We do not recollect 
ever to have seen such vigorous efforts put forth for the im- 
provement of the people and of agriculture, as have been 
within the last few months." ** 

Rev. Mr. Phillippo, writing in the same year, says : " The 
term indolent can only be applied to the black population in 
the absence of remunerating employment ; and even then 
they work on their own provision-grounds. Jamaica 
peasants are sddom seen lounging about, loitering along 
the roads, or spending their money at taverns and other sim- 
ilar places of resort. As for the great bulk of the people, 
making allowance for climate, no peasantry in the world 
can display more cheerful and persevering industry. In 
the time of slavery, unrestrained licentiousness was the 
order of the day. Every estate and every negro hut was a 



iHE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 75 

brotliel. Now, marriage is the rule and concabinage the 
exception. Although every trifling infraction of the laivs 
(contrary to foi-mer usage) is now publicly known and pun- 
ished by magistrates, empty jails, and the absence of serious 
offences from the calendar of the courts, are sufficient evi- 
dence of the general decrease of crime." 

The Jamaica Morning Journal, March, 1843, says: 
" Our readers will be surprised and pleased to learn that for 
the last five days not a single prisoner has been committed 
to the cage in this city [Kingston]. We record this fact 
with great pleasure, as we believe such a circumstance never 
before occurred since the building of the city." 

Rev. Mr. Bleby says : " Before I left Jamaica (which 
was previous to 1848), no less than 50,000 colored people 
had become freeholders, as the fruit of their own industry. 
We are told these people will not work. How did they ob- 
tain these freeholds then ? Some of them have mahogany 
bedsteads and side-boards in their houses. How do they 
get such furniture, except as the result of their own toil ? " 

JAMAICA AFTER 1846. 

Now we are coming upon sad times. It has been stated 
that the West Indies had the monopoly of sugar in the Brit- 
ish market, at an immense cost to the consumers. This 
had frequently called out remonstrances from the British 
people ; and in 1846 government repealed the tariff, which 
excluded other countries from competition. The result was 
a sudden and great fall in the price of sugar. "In 1840, 
sugar sold in bond at 49s. a cwt. ($11.86.) In 1848, it 
had sunk to 235. bcl ($5.65.") The result was many mil- 
lions of dollars less in the receipts for their crops ; and that 
was far from being the worst feature in the case. Business 
in the West Indies had for generations been carried on upon 
credit ; and now credit was gone. The writer in the Edin- 
burgh thus states the case : " The vast capital requisite for 
the production of sugar had been annually advanced by 
merchants in London, on the security of the crops. But, 
of course, when it was known that sugar had fallen so 
enormously in value, the merchants took fright, and the 
credit Df the planter was gone. He was embarked ia 



76 THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 

transactions on which a vast capital had been laid out, and 
which required a vast capital to carry them on ; and capital 
he could not obtain." The suflering was dreadful. Thou- 
sands of faraihes accustomed to the luxuries of wealth were 
reduced to poverty, without any of the habits that would 
have enabled them to bear it bravely. Their cry of distress 
resounded through the world. Pro-slavery presses in Eng- 
land and America exultingly proclaimed, " Behold the effects 
of emancipation ? ■' and people without examining the sub- 
ject, echoed the railing accusation. But one very important 
circumstance was overlooked ; viz., that when this cry of 
distress arose, slavery had been abolished fourteen years, and 
the apprenticeship had been abolished ten years. By a little 
examination th'ey might have ascertained that, previous to 
the repeal of the tariff, things were going on prosperously 
in the West Indies ; which is sufficiently indicated by the 
fact that just before the blow came, they had been making 
an outlay to produce larger cro])S ; a circumstance which 
rendered the blow all the heavier. Even Jamaica, with all 
her wretched mismanagement and financial disorders, was 
beginning to be prosperous, in consequence of emancipation, 
as we have shown. 

Of the fall of property, subsequent to the repeal of the 
tariff some estimate may be formed from the following 
item. In 1838, the La Grange estate was sold for £25,000 
($121,125) ; and in 1840 the Windsor Forest estate sold 
for £40,000 ($193,800). In 1850, both those estates sold 
together for £11,000 ($53,295). 

Mr. Bigelow, of the New York Evening Post, who visited 
Jamaica m 1850, says: "It is difficult to exaggerate, and 
still more difficult to define the poverty and industrial pros- 
tration of Jamaica. The natural wealth and spontaneous 
productiveness of the island are so great, that no one can 
starve, and yet it seems as if the faculty of accumulation 
were suspended. The productive power of the soil is run- 
ning to waste ; the finest land in the world may be had 
almost for the asking; labor receives no compensation; and 
the product of labor does not seem to know the way to 
market." 

The soil still continued to be owned chiefly by absentees ; 
an unincumbered estate of any size or value was hardly to 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 77 

be found ; and since the depreciation of property, it was im- 
possible to borrow money, to any considerable extent, on 
Jamaica estates. 

Mr. J3igelow informs us that " Jamaica imports, annually, 
70,000 barrels of flour ; 90,000 bushels of corn ; 300,000 
pounds of tobacco ; and 10 or 12,000,000 feet of lumber and 
sawed stuff. They have magnificent forests, but not a saw- 
mill on the island. Even their bricks they import. They 
pay extravagant prices for articles, which could be cultivated 
in Jamaica with the utmost ease and abundance. Butter is 
37-^ cts. a pound ; milk 18f cts. a quart ; flour from sixteen 
to eighteen dollars a barrel ; etc. Nothing apparently can 
be more'unnatural than for the people of this island, in their 
present poverty-stricken condition, to be paying such prices 
for daily food ; yet nothing is more inevitable, so long as the 
land is held in such large quantities, and by absentee land- 
lords. Till recently, such a thing was never known as a 
small farm of fifty or a hundred acres to be put under cul- 
ture for profit." 

As the planters and their advocates were continually 
complaining that wages were ruinously high, Mr. Bigelow 
made it a subject of special inquiry. He says : " To my 
utter surprise, I learned that the wages of men on the sugar 
and coffee plantations ranged from eighteen to twenty-four 
cents a day ; and proportionably less for women and chil- 
dren. Out of these wages the laborers have to board them- 
selves. Now, when it is considered that flour is eighteen 
dollars a barrel, eggs fronj three to five cents a piece, and 
ham twenty-five cents a pound, does not this cry of high 
wages appear absurd ? Was the wolf's complaint of the 
lamb, for muddying the stream below him, more unreason- 
able ? Are wages lower in any quarter of the civilized 
world ? Four-fifths of all the. grain consumed in Jamaica is 
grown in the United States, on fields where labor costs more 
than four times this price, and where every kind of provi- 
sion, except fruit, is less expensive. The fact is, the negro 
cannot live on such wages, unless he ekes them out by steal- 
ing, or owns a lot of three or five acres. He is driven by 
necessity to purchase land and cultivate it for himself. He 
finds such labor so much better rewarded than that he be 
stows on the lands of others, that he naturally takes cai-a 
7* 



78 THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 

of his own first, and gives his leisure to the properties of 
others. 

" Of course, it requires no little energy and self-denial for 
a negro, upon such wages, to lay up enough to purchase a 
little estate ; but if he does get one, he never parts with it, 
except for a larger or better one. I was greatly surprised 
to find the number of these colored proprietors already con- 
siderably over 100,000, and continually increasing. When 
one reflects that only sixteen years ago there was scarcely a 
colored landholder on the island, it is unnecessary to say 
that this class of the population appreciate tlie privileges of 
free labor and a homestead far more correctly'- than might be 
expected ; more especially when it is borne in mind that 
seven-tenths of them were born in slavery, and spent many 
years as bondmen. Their properties average, I should 
think, about three acres. They have a direct interest in 
cultivating them economically and intelligently. The prac- 
tice of planning their own labor, encouraged by the privi- 
lege of reaping its rewards, exerts upon them the most im- 
portant educational influence ; the results of which will soon 
be much more apparent than they now are." 

Pro-slavery writers declare that these negro farmers have 
not raised five pounds of sugar a year for exportation. But 
does that prove they are lazy ? Where butter is 37^ cts. a 
pound, eggs from three to five cents a piece, onions 12^ cts. 
a pound, and other provisions at the same rate, they can 
turn their land to better account, than to enter into compe- 
tition with sugar makers. When the same system is intro- 
duced that Gov. Hincks mentions in Barbadoes, they will 
doubtless turn their attention to raising sugar canes. 

There is much evidence that there is no actual want of 
labor in Jamaica, though it has doubtless been alienated 
from the large sugar plantation^. Firstly, by the harsh and 
unjust treatment of many of the planters. Secondly, by the 
state of bankruptcy in which emancipation found them, and 
which rendered them unable to pay for work. Thirdly, and 
probably the strongest cause for all, was the inability of the 
laborers to hire land on their estates, with any degree of 
security. Mr. Charles Tappan, of Boston, who visited 
Jamaica in 1858, says : " The alleged want of labor is a 
false cry. Where labor is said to be deficient, it can be 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 7& 

traced to causes within the planters' control to remove. Of 
these, insufficient wages, unpunctual payment of the same, 
or no payment at all, are stated to be the chief." " In con- 
versing with planters, I learned that laborers can easily be 
obtained for a fair compensation and kind treatment. But 
it is a fact that the emancipated much prefer to work on 
their own few acres of land." Mr. S. B. Slack, an old na- 
tive resident of Jamaica, writes thus to Mr. Tappan in 
1858 : "With few exceptions the planters now acknowledge 
that emancipation was a blessing. Some soreness was felt 
at the commencement ; and it was manifested in the inju- 
dicious acts of ejecting laborers from the cottages they had 
occupied since infancy, and destroying their provision- 
grounds, which led them to purchase freeholds of their own, 
and thus become independent of their labor on the estates. 
But if the negroes are as lazy as they are represented, how 
is it that in the construction of a new road across the island 
more laborers can be obtained than are required ? How is 
it that the Water Works Company are sure to have com- 
petitors for employment? How does it happen that the 
Railway Company are equally w^ell off for labor? The 
answer is, because the laborers are liberally and punctually 
paid ; and they are willing to work, when they are sure to 
obtain the reward." 

Sir Charles Grey, who was Governor of Jamaica, in 
1850, says: "There are few races of men who will work 
harder, or more perseveringly, than the negroes, when they 
are sure of getting the produce of their labor." 

The Free Villages, which have sprung up since emanci- 
pation are described by all travellers as a new and- most 
pleasing feature in the scenery of the West Indies. In the 
days of slavery, laborers generally lived in thatched hovels, 
with mud walls, thrown together without any order or ar- 
rangement. A few calabashes, a water jar, and a mortar 
for pounding corn, mainly constituted their furniture. As 
the women were driven into the fields to toil early and late, 
they had no time for household cleanliness. These negro 
dwellings looked picturesque in the distance, nestling among 
palm-trees and tamarind groves ; but, like slavery itself, 
they would not bear a close inspection. As you came near 
them, the senses wei-e offended by decaying vegetables, and 



80 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

nauseous effluvia. Now, the laborers live in Free Villages, 
regularly laid out. The houses are small, many of them, 
built of stone or wood, with shingled roofs, green blinds, 
and verandahs, to sliield them from the sun. Most of them 
are neatly thatched, and generally plastered and white- 
washed outside and in. They now have looking-glasses, 
chairs, and side-boards decorated with i)retty articles of 
glass and crockery. Each dwelling has its little })lot of 
vegetables, generally neatly kept, and many of them have 
flower-gardens in front, glowing with all the bright hues of 
the tropics. In 1843, Mr. Phillippo said that, by a rough 
estimate, the number of these villages in Jamaica was about 
two hundred, and the number of acres of land purchased 
was not less than 100,000. It was estimated that in the 
course of four years, the emancipated apprentices had paid 
£170,000 ($823,G50) for land and buildings. And that 
was done when wages were from eighteen to twenty-four 
cents a day, out of which they boarded themselves ! And 
y these were the people who, the slave-holders were so sure 
would " skulk in the woods, and live on yams," rather than 
work, after they ceased to be flogged ! 
^ The names of these villages give pleasant indication of 
the gratitude of the colored people toward their benefactors. 
They are called Clarkson, Wilberforce, Buxton, Brougham, 
Macaulay, Thompson, Gurney, Sligo, etc. The names 
given to their own little homes have almost a poetic in- 
terest, so touching and expressive is their simplicity. The 
following are samples: " Happy Retreat;" "Thank God 
for it ; " "A Little of my Own ; " " Liberty and Content ; " 
« Thankful Hill ; " " Come and See." 

Joseph J. Gurney visited Clarkson Town in the winter 
of 1839, and has recorded that he was "delighted with 
its appearance, and with the manners, intelligence, and 
hospitality of the people." Mr. Phillippo, who was familiar 
with these villages, says : "The groups often presented are 
worthy of the painter's pencil, or the poet's song. Amid 
the stillness of a Sabbath evening, many families, after their 
return from the house of God, may be seen gathered to- 
gether in the shadow of the trees, which overhang their cot- 
tages, singing hymns, or -listening to the reading of the 
Scripture? , with none to molest or make them afraid." 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 81 

Mr. Charles Tappan says : " On landing at Kingston, I 
must confess I was half inclined to believe the story so in- 
dustriously circulated, that the emancipated vslave is more 
idle and vicious than any other of God's Intel Hgent crea- 
tures ; but wlien I rode through the valleys and over the 
mountains, and found everywhere an industrious, sober peo- 
ple, I concluded all the vagabonds of the island had moved 
to the sea-shore, to pick up a precarious living by carrying 
baggage, begging, etc. ; and such, upon inquiry, I found to be 
the fact. Wherever I went in the rural districts, I found 
contented men and w^omen, cultivating sugar cane, and nu- 
merous vegetables and fruits, on their own account. Their 
neat, well-furnished cottages compared well with the dwell- 
ings of pioneers in our own country. I found in them ma- 
hogany furniture, crockery and glass ware, and shelves of 
useful books. I saw Africans, of unmixed blood, grinding 
their own sugar cane in their own mills, and making their 
own sugar. I attended a large meeting called to decide the 
question about inviting a schoolmaster to settle among them. 
There was only one man who doubted the expediency of 
taking the children from work and sending them to school. 
One said: 'My little learning enabled me to see that a 
note, given to me in payment for a horse, was not wjitten 
according to contract.' Another said : ' I should have 
been wronged out of forty pounds of coffee I sold in Kings- 
ton, the other day, if I hadn't known how^ to cipher.' 
Another said : ' 1 shall not have much property to leave 
my children, but if they have learning, they can get prop- 
perty.' Another said : ' Those that can read will be more 
likely to get religion.' All these people had been slaves, or 
were the children of slaves. I saw no intoxicated person 
in Jamaica ; and when it is considered that every man there 
can make rum, it strikes me as very remarkable." 

Here we have the germ of that middling class, which is 
the best reliance in every community, and which can never 
co-exist with slavery. 

The fall of sugar as we have said prostrated the West 
Indies for- a time ; and no Colony was so badly situated to 
sustain it as Jamaica, with her overwhelming debts, her 
wretched management, her financial disorders, and her 
laborers, alienated from the sugar estates by persistence ia 



82 THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 

treating freemen as if they were slaves. Lord Sligo stated, 
in an official report, that many of the planters threw estates 
out of cultivation in 1832, because they were so sure that 
the negroes would not work after the Act of Emancipation 
had passed. Then, when the fall of sugar came in 1847 a 
great many planters were obHged to abandon their estates, 
from inability to borrow money to carry them on. Mr. 
Bigelow states that, in 1850, there were 400,000 acres of 
sugar and coffee plantations abandoned to weeds and under- 
bush. 

But there is a recuperative power in Free Trade, as there 
is in Free Labor. The West Indies soon began to rise 
from the severe but temporary pressure, occasioned by the 
repeal of the Tariff. In some cases property passed out of 
the fettered hands of bankrupts to those, who being unin- 
cumbered, could take a fair start ; while some of the old 
proprietors learned wisdom from experience, and managed 
more judiciously. Even Jamaica is coming in for her share 
in these beneficial changes. That her waste places are be- 
ginning to be restored is indicated by the following article 
from the Kingston Morning Journal, 1857 : " On Monday 
last, the roads leading to Great Valley estate presented a 
lively appearance. Men and women, old and young, strong 
and weak, were all hastening toward a common point of 
attraction. Gaudy handkerchiefs were flying from flag- 
poles, the people were singing and dancing, and every thing 
gave token of a day much honored by the peasantry. It 
was no wedding or merry-making. They were in work- 
ing clothes, with hoes and pickaxes on their shoulders. 
From every track and by-path came individuals to increase 
the crowd. All seemed happy and in haste. All were 
sweeping toward the gate of the Great Valley works. "We 
said to an old man, whose head was white Avith the frost of 
eighty winters : ' Hallo ! where are all these people go- 
ing ? ' Taking off his cap, he answered, '■ Me good buckra, 
me neber expect to see him Great Valley da rise. Him 
goin' for 'tablish cane ; make sugar agin. Good for we all. 
Eberybody for help.' ' But you are too old to do any thing.' 
*Da true, me massa. Me no hab trong. But me must do 
someting. Me fetch water. Me heart trong, do me han' 
weak.' To another we said : ' Where are you taking that 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. - 83 

cart-load of cane-tops to, my man ? ' * To the Great Valley, 
sir. They are going to establish the sugar estate again ; 
and I am carrying them all the cane-tops I have, to plant.' 
We said to a woman with a great bundle of cane-tops on 
her head, * Are you going to the Great Valley, too ? * 

* Yes, sir. It's a great day for us all. Everybody must 
help.' To another, who headed a group of seventy or 
eighty children, we said, ' Where are you going, my friend?* 

* I am the master of Pondside school, sir. The girls and 
boys all begged a holiday, to carry cane-tops to the Great 
Valley, and help them dig cane-holes. A new proprietor 
has bought the estate, and everybody wants to help him.' 

* But don't you think there will be difficulty in procuring 
labor?' *No, sir, not a bit; if the people are treated 
honestly and kindly. The new proprietor has a kindly way 
with him, and. treats the people encouragingly ; and a kind 
word goes a great way with our people. But I must follow 
my scholars. You can hear by their noise that they have 
already joined the digging party, there where the flags are 
flying.' And sure enough the ringing sound of children's 
shouts and laughter was borne joyously on the breeze. 

" Great Valley is a noble estate of 4,000 acres, pleasantly- 
situated between hills. It was formerly considered the second 
estate in the parish of Hanover. Now the works looked 
like some venerable ruin. Windows broken, chimneys 
tumbling, roofs falling in, lightning-rod swinging to and fro, 
carts and trucks rotting in the middle of the yard, the noble 
tank filled up with weeds, among which wild ducks were 
floating. But these ruined walls are to be rebuilt. The 
solitary places, now musty with mould and decay, will soon 
be filled with a busy throng, and the pleasant perfume of 
sugar-boiling will replace the unwholesome vapors. It is a 
pleasant prospect ; and seems an omen of more prosperous 
days for our Island of Jamaica." 

Between 1853 and 1855, there was an increase in ex- 
ports to the amount of £16G,049 ($804,507.40). 

The Governor, in his report for 1855, says : " I feel more 
confident of the ultimate restoration of prosperity than I 
ever did before." 

The Governor, in his speech at the opening of the Legis- 
lature, 1858, says : " A still progressive increase, both in 



84 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAr. 

the quantity of the staple exports^ and in the amount of 
revenue derived from duties on articles of consumption, indi- 
cate a gradual improvement in the productive industry of 
the Colony." He alludes to a succession of dry seasons, 
that have diminished the crops; and yet with that very 
serious drawback, the exports were increasing. He admits 
that complaints still came from the old plantations of a defi- 
ciency of continuous labor; which he says he can readily 
believe, from the "admitted fact that the portion of the 
agricultural peasantry, who, with tlieir families, industriously 
and systematically apply themselves to the independent pro- 
duction of sugar, and other staples, is day by day increas- 
ing." 

When Lord Belmore, the Governor in 1832, said to the 
Jamaica Assembly, " Depend upon it, gentlemen, the re- 
sources of this fine island will never be fully developed, 
until slavery is abolished," he gave them very great offence. 
The grandsons of the men he' offended will see his prediction 
verified. Even amid all the desolation and discouragement 
in 1850, Mr. Bigelow says : "I made extensive inquiry, but 
I did not find a man upon the island who regretted the 
Emancipation Act, or who, if I may take their own profes- 
sions, would have restored slavery, if it had been in their 
power." 

Ernst Noel, who writes from Jamaica to the New York 
Times, in the winter of 1860, says: "It is an undoubted 
fact that the exportation of coffee in Jamaica has declined 
from twenty-five and thirty millions to five and six millions ; 
but it is also an undoubted fact that where one pound was 
used in the island prior to emancipation ten are used now. 
[Every laborer has his cup of coffee now.] It is my firm 
conviction that there is no such great discrepancy between 
the amount grown at the time of emancipation, and the 
amount now grown ; especially when the extent of exhausted 
coffee land is taken into account. The same statement will 
apply with much greater force to provisions of every des- 
cription. It is undoubtedly true that most of the large 
coffee properties formerly in cultivation have been aban- 
doned, or turned to other uses. Coffee requires new land ; 
and the clearance of fifty acres of wood is a Herculean en- 
terprise for coffee planters, among whom want of capital 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAY. 85 

prevails as much as among sugar i)lanters. But whatever 
large coffee planters may say about their profits and losses, 
it is a notorious fact that thousands and thousands of settlers 
grow the delicious berry to advantage ; as any merchant en- 
gaged in the trade will be able to testify. They come to the 
towns and villages with one, two, six, or a dozen bags, and 
in this way many a cargo is made up for foreign ports." 

The same writer says that several experienced planters, 
to whom he proposed questions concerning investment of 
capital in that island, assured him that profits from ten to 
twenty per cent might be securely counted upon. 

Note. — In Mauritius, a fertile island in the Indian Ocean, belonging 
to Great Britain, the sugar crop, during the last ten years of slavery, av- 
eraged 68,741,120 -lbs. annually. During four years, after emancipa- 
tion, beginning with 1845, the averag^crop was 171,122,500 lbs.; an 
increase of 102 millions of pounds annually ; nearly 150 per cent in 
favor of free labor. 

8 



CHAPTER VI. 

EMANCIPATION SAFE IN EVERY INSTANCE, 

" Right never comes wrong." 

— Old Maxim. 

"Whenever immediate emancipation is urged, the " hor- 
rors of St. Domingo " are dways brought forward to prove 
it dangerous. This is one of numerous misstatements 
originating in prejudice, and afterward taken for granted by 
those who have not examined the subject. The first troub- 
les between the white and black races in St. Domingo were 

^ the result of oppressive and unlawful treatment of the free 
colored population, who were numerous, and many of them 
wealthy proprietors. The whites were determined to wrest 
from them certain rights which the French government had 
secured to them. The next troubles Avere occasioned by an 

^' attempt to restore slavery, after it had been for some years 
abolished. It was never the granting of rights to the col- 
ored people that produced bloodshed or disturbance. All 
the disasters to the whites came in consequence . of with- 
holding those rights, in the first instance, and afterward from 
a forcible attempt to take them away, after they had long 
been peacefully and prosperously enjoyed under the protec- 
, tion of French laws. 

In 1793, the National Assembly proclaimed liberty to all 
slaves under the dominion of France ; more than 600,000 in 
number ; and history shows that the measure proved safe. 
In St. Domingo emancipation was both peaceful and pros^ 
peroHS in its results. Col. Malenfant, a slave-holder resident 
in the island at the time, published " A Historical and Po- 
litical Memoir of the Colonies," in which he says : " After 
this public act of emancipation the negroes remained quiet, 
both in the south and west. There were estates which had 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 87 

neither owners nor managers upon them ; yet upon those 
estates, though abandoned, the negroes continued their 
labors, where there were any of the inferior agents left to 
guide them ; and where there was no white man, in any 
capacity, to take direction of affairs, they betook themselves 
to planting provisions. Several of my neighbors, proprie- 
tors or managers, were in prison ; and the negroes on their 
plantations were in the habit of coming to me to direct them 
in their work. If you will take care not to talk to them of 
the restoration of slavery, but to talk to them of freedom, 
you may with that Avord chain them to their labor. In the 
plain of the Cul de Sac, on the plantation Gouraud, I man- 
aged four hundred and fifty laborers for more than eight 
months after liberty had been granted them. Not one of 
them refused to work. Yet that plantation was reputed to 
have been under the worst discipline, and the slaves the 
most idle of any in the plain. I inspired the same activity 
into three other plantations, of which I h.id the management. 
Ninety-nine out of a hundred blacks are perfectly well 
aware that labor is the process by which they can obtain 
means to gratify their wants and their tastes ; and therefore 
they are desirous to work." In describing the latter part of 
1796, Col. Mjilenftint says: "The Colony is flourishing. 
The whites live peacefully and happily upon their estates, 
and the negroes continue to work for them." Gen. Lecroix, 
who published " Memoirs for a History of St. Domingo," 
speaks of wonderful progress in agriculture in 1797. He 
says : " The Colony marched, as by enchantment, toward its 
ancient sjilendor ; cultivation prospered, and every day fur- 
nished perceptible proofs of j^rogress." 

Such ayas the effect of Emancipation in St. 
Domingo ! 

In 1801, Gen. Vincent, a proprietor of estates in St. Do- 
mingo, went to France to lay before the government the 
plan of a new Constitution for the island. He found Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, then First Consul, preparing to send out an 
armament to restore slavery in St. Domingo. General Vin- 
cent earnestly remonstrated against the expedition. He 
assured the Consul that the negroes were orderly and indus- 
trious, and that every thing was going on peacefully and 
prosperously for all parties ; that it was unnecessary, and 



88 THE EIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 

therefore cruel, to attempt to reverse this happy state of 
things. But tliere was a class of old despotic planters who 
clamored for the restoration of the arbitrary power, which 
they had most cruelly abused. Unfortunately, Bonaparte 
considered it good policy to conciliate that class ; and he 
persisted in his purpose. He tried to restore slavery, by 
military force, and the consequence was that the French 
were driven out of tli^ island, with great bloodshed. 

In Guadaloupe, where liberty was proclaimed at the same 
time as in St. Domingo, the sudden transition took place 
with perfect safety. The reports from the Governors, for 
successive years, bear testimony that tiie emancipated 
laborers were universally industrious and submissive to the 
laws. 

Gen. Lafayette, the consistent friend of human freedom, 
made a practical experiment of emancipation, as early as 
1785. In tlie French Colony of Cayenne, most of the soil 
belonged to the crown, and he was able to obtain it on easy 
terms. He expended $30,000 in purchasing land and 
slaves. He employed an amiable and judicious gentleman 
to take the management. The first thing the agent did, 
when he arrived in Cayenne, was to call the slaves together, 
and in their presence burn all the whips and other instru- 
ments of punishment. He informed them that their owner, 
Gen. Lafayette had bought them for the purpose of enabling 
them to obtain their freedom. He then stated to them the 
laws and regulations by which the estate would be governed, 
and the pecuniary advantages that would be granted, accord- 
ing to degrees of industry. This stimulus operated like a 
charm. The energy of the laborers redoubled, and they 
were obedient to the wishes of their manager. He died 
from the effects of the climate. But when the slaves in all 
the French Colonies were emancipated in 1793, the labor- 
ers on this estate in Cayenne waited upon the new agent, 
and said if the land still belonged to Gen. Lafayette they 
wished to resume their labor for him on the old terms, giv- 
ing as a reason that they were " desirous to promote the in- 
terests of one who had treated them like men, and cheered 
their toil by making it a certain means of freedom." 

In 1811 the British authorities emancipated all the slaves 
in Java. This also proved a complete success ; as any one 



THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 89 

can ascertain by examining tiie account given by Sir Stam- 
ford Raffles, who was Governor of the island. 

At successive periods^ between 1816 and 1828, the South 
American Republics, Buenos Ayres, Chili, Bolivia, Peru, 
Colombia and Guatemala emancipated all their slaves. In 
some of those States means were taken for the instruction 
of young slaves, who were eniranchised on arriving at a cer- 
tain age. In other States, slaves of all ages were emanci- 
pated after a certain date, fixed by law. In no one instance 
were these changes productive of any injury to life or prop- 
erty. 

In 1828 the British government emancipated all the 
slaves in Cape Colony. oO,000 Hottentot Helots were ad- 
mitted by law to all the rights and privileges of the white 
inhabitants. Tlie slave-holders in the Colony remonstrated 
vehemently against this measure. They declared that the 
Hottentots were stupid, sensual, brutal, vicious, and totally 
incapable of taking care of themselves. They predicted 
awful outrages, as the consequence of emancipating a horde 
of such degraded wretches. But the event proved quite 
otherwise. The poor creatures were grateful for their free- 
dom, and tried to behave as well as they knew how. All 
went on as peaceably as before, as concerned the white in- 
habitants, and much more peaceably, as concerned the 
blacks, who had previously suffered shocking barbarities at 
the hands of their masters. In the sunlight of freedom even 
the Hottentots have been gradually emerging out of barbar- 
ism. Year by year they pay more for British manufactures, 
because they wear calico and woollen cloth, instead of sheep- 
skin mantles. They have horses and wagons, and flocks of 
their own, and their small weekly contributions to the Mis- 
sionary Societies at the Cape amount to many hundreds of 
dollars. 

From the time that Mexico became independent of Spain, 
in 1821, there was an increasing conviction in the public 
mind, that the fexistence of slavery was inconsistent with 
their professed principles as a Republic. This feeling soon 
manifested itself in laws. The prices of slaves were fixed 
by magistrates, and they were required to work, at stipu- 
lated wages, till they had paid for themselves. Protective 
laws were passed, enabling the servants to work for others, 
8* 



90 THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

if they were not justly and humanely treated by their mas- 
ters. Transfers of service might also take place to accom- 
modate the masters ; but never without consent of the ser- 
vants. Mr. Ward, the British Minister to Mexico, in his 
work on that country, speaks very highly of the beneficial 
effects produced by these regulations. He says they gave a 
powerful stimulus to industry, and rapidly increased agri- 
cultural prosperity. A Mississippi slave-holder, who went 
to reside in Matamoras, was also so much pleased with the 
results of this experiment, that he wrote of it with enthusi- 
asm, as an example highly important to the United States. 
He declared that the value of plantations was soon increased 
by the introduction of free labor. He says : " No one was 
made poor by it. It gave property to the servant, and in- 
creased the riches of tlie master." Free labor commended 
itself so much in this process, that on September 15th, 1829, 
President Guerrero published the following decree : " Being 
desirous to signalize the Anniversary of Mexican Indepen- 
dence by an act of national justice and beneficence, we hereby 
declare slavery forever abolished in this Republic. Conse- 
quently, all those individuals who, until this day, have been 
considered slaves, are free ! " No interruption of public 
peace or prosperity followed this just decree. 

In 1831, 3,000 prize negroes received freedom in South 
Africa ; 400 in one day. No difficulty or disorder occurred. 
All gained homes ; and at night scarcely an idler was to be 
seen. 

In 1848, the French government, after careful examina- 
tion into the state of things in the British West Indies, de- 
creed immediate emancipation to all the slaves in their 
Colonies. M. Arago, formerly member of the Provisional 
Government, wrote thus, in 1851 : " Much has been said 
of the ruin which the Act of Emancipation has scattered 
over our Colonies. But it should be remembered that they 
were in a deplorahle condition for a long time previous- 
The Chamber of Deputies resounded daily with their lamen- 
tations. Extreme and utterly inadmissible measures for 
their relief were continually proposed. The Act of Eman- 
cipation cut peacefully one of the most complicated questions 
our social state afforded. Free labor has taken the place 
of slave labor without much resistance. So far, it has been 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 91 

attended with results sufficiently favorable, and these cannot 
fail to grow better." O. Lafayette, grandson of General 
Lafayette, member of the Chamber of Deputies, wrote thus, 
in 1851: "In one day, as by the stroke of a wand, 150,- 
000 human beings were snatched from the degradation, in 
which tliey had been held by former legishition, and re- 
sumed their rank in the great human family. And tliis 
great event occurred without any of those disorders and 
struggles, which had been threatened, in order to perplex 
the consciences of the friends of abolition." 

In 1841, the Bey of Tunis prohibited the exportation or 
importation of slaves, and declared all children free that 
should be born in his dominions after December 8th, 1842. 
In 1846, he proclaimed that slavery was abolished entirely, 
" for the honor of God, and to distinguish man from the 
brute creation." To these measures he was greatly influ- 
enced by the British Minister, Sir Thomas Reade. 

Not far from the same date, Sweden proclaimed emanci- 
pation in the Island of St. Bartholomew, the only place 
under her dominion wdiere slavery existed. 

Christian VIII. of Denmark, and his Queen, Caroline, 
were so openly in favor of emancipation, that the price of 
slaves in their dominions became greatly reduced. The 
kind-hearted Queen obtained a promise from the King that 
he would celebrate the anniversary of their Silver Wedding 
by a decree of universal emancipation. Accordingly, on the 
28th of July, 1847, it was proclaimed that all children born 
on or after that day should be free ; and that all the slaves 
in the Danish possessions, about 30,000 in number, should 
receive their freedom in 1859. This was intended to give 
time to prepare for the change ; but it worked badly. It 
made the negroes restless to hear of freedom without obtain- 
ing it ; and this feeling was increased by intercourse with 
the neighboring French islands, where all had been pro- 
claimed unconditionally free. The masters were opposed to 
emancipation, and not at all disposed to conciliate their la- 
borers. In July, 1848, local insurrections broke out. A 
good deal of property was destroyed, but few lives lost, ex- 
cept those of slaves who were executed. The panic pro- 
duced caused a proclamation of immediate emancipation ; 
since which there have been no insurrections, nor any fear 
of them. Fifty dollars for eacli 9h\v^ ^'"^ nwo,.ri^,<l ^o ♦^-'> 



9% THE RIGHT WAY THE SAFE WAT. 

masters, who have never ceased to grumble against tlie gov- 
ernment and against the negroes. Such a transition, of 
course, could not take place without temporary evils and in- 
conveniences. The effects of a system so bad as slavery 
cannot be suddenly outgrown, either by masters or servants. 
But improvement is more and more perceptible as years 
pass on. A gentleman writing from St. Thomas to the 
M T. Tribune, September, 1854, says: "The former own- 
ers are constantly complaining of the ignorance, faithless- 
ness, and degradation of the negroes, without seeming to 
have any consciousness of the fact that they themselves 
have brought them to this very character and condition. 
Whether their state is at 07ice bettered is not the decisive 
question, but whether they are in a condition where there is 
a chance for improvement. And for my own part, the re- 
spectability attained by many persons of color in this town, 
and the industry and capacity manifested by large numbers, 
in various emploj^ments, as artisans, clerks, bookkeepers, and 
public officials, give me a hope I never before entertained, 
of the certain advancement of the African race, wherever 
they shall become disembarrassed of the shackles of slavery, 
and of an unjust social prejudice." 

A Boston gentleman, who visited Santa Cruz in the spring 
of 1859, writes thus : " You would be delighted with the ef- 
fects of emancipation, as we see them all round us, with 
abundant opportunities to examine them. The pay which 
the Danish government has settled for voluntary labor 
sounds very low [five dollars a month]. But the artificial 
wants of the laborers are so few, and tlie necessaries of life 
are so easily supplied in this perpetual summer, that the 
thrifty and industrious have already succeeded in laying up 
enough to build comfortable little homes, and bring up their 
children to trades. The vice which had always been en- 
couraged among them, for their masters' gain, carries its 
poison among them yet ; but they are gradually acquiring a 
pride of matrimony.. A noble young Episcopal minister is 
laboring unweariedly for their moral and intellectual eleva- 
tion, almost unaided by the white population, who look coldly 
upon his labors. The progress made in two years has been 
eurprising indeed." 

In 1857, the Dutch abolished slavery in their West India 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAY. 93 

Colonies. The government paid a certain sum to the mas- 
ters, and took the entire control of the slaves, who were to 
work till tliey repaid the sum advanced for their freedom. 
Children under five years were free at once, and moderate 
prices were fixed by law for all the slave population, gradu- 
ated according to their ages. As soon as the stipulated 
price was offered by any slave, he became a freeman. 
Wages were also fixed by law ; and in case any planters 
refused to submit to the prescribed regulations, rural settle- 
ments were formed where the colored people could find em- 
ployment, under the superintendence of managers appointed 
by government, aided by colleagues who were elected by 
the laborers. Of course, the success of this experiment will 
greatly depend on the good-temper and good judgment of 
the men who manage it. I have no means of ascertaining 
the degree of financial prosperity in the Dutch West India 
Colonies since emancipation began to take effect; but I 
know that before the ahoHtion of slavery, they were complain- 
ing of " ruin " and begging for " relief r The Colony of 
Surinam, under slavery^ made this statement. " Out of nine 
hundred and seventeen, plantations, six hundred and thirty- 
six have been totally abandoned. Of the remainder, sixty- 
five grow nothing but wood and provisions." The small 
balance of estates not included in this description, were 
declared to be on the road to destruction. Whether free 
labor Avorks better results, time will show. But one thing 
is already certain ; the transition was made with perfect 
safety. In 1859, the Dutch abolished slavery in all their 
East India possessions ; where it had existed under a com- 
paratively mild form. There was one very remarkable and 
beautiful feature in this transaction. The government of- 
fered an assessed compensation to the masters ; but many 
of them refused to take it, while others took it and gave it to 
the emancipated slaves, who had worked so many years with- 
out wages. 

History proves that emancipation has always been safe. 
It is an undeniable fact, that not one white person has ever 
been killed, or wounded, or had life or property endangered 
by any violence attendant upon immediate emancipation, in 
any of the many cases where the experiment has been tried. 
On the contrary, it has always produced a feeling of secu- 
rity in tho public mind. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

I APPEAL to candid readers whether I have not, in the 
preceding pages, fairly made out a case in favor of immedi- 
ate emancipation. I have not advanced opinions, or theo- 
ries ; I have simply stated facts. In view of these facts, is 
it not unjust and irrational to persist in calling immediate 
emancipation a " fanatical " idea ? Leaving the obvious 
considerations of justice and humanity entirely out of the 
question, I ask whether experience has not proved it to be 
a measure of plain, practical good sense, and sound policy. 
The trouble in forming a correct estimate on this subject 
arises mainly from our proneness to forget that negroes are 
men, and, consequently, governed by the same laws of human 
nature, which govern all men. Compulsion always excites 
resistance ; reward always stimulates exertion. Kindne-ss 
has upon the human soul an influence as renovating as sun- 
shine upon the earth ; and no race is so much and so easily 
influenced by it as the negroes. Jamaica overseers, blinded 
by the long habit of considering slaves as cattle, said to 
them, after they became apprentices, " Work faster, you 
black rascal ! or I'll flog you." That excited the apprentice 
to remind them they had no power to do it. The retort 
enraged the overseers ; and the magistrate was called upon 
to punish the laborer for his insolence in expressing the feel- 
ings of a man. The Antigua planters acted with more 
enlightened policy. Tliey wisely gave up their power into 
the hands of the law. If they chanced to see a laborer 
ratlier dilatory, they said, " We expect better things o^ free- 
men:" and that simpla appeal to their manhood, we are 
told, invariably quickened their motions, while it gratified 
their feelings. 

Free labor has so obviously the advantage, in all respects, 
over slave labor, that posterity will marvel to find in the his- 



THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 95 

tory of the nineteenth century any record of a system so 
barbarous, so clumsy, and so wasteful. Let us make a very 
brief comparison. The slave is bought, sometimes at a very 
high price ; in free labor there is no such investment of 
capital. The slave does not care how slowly or carelessly 
he works ; it is the freeman's interest to do his work well 
and quickly. The slave is indifferent how many tools he 
spoils ; the freeman has a motive to be careful. The slave's 
clothing is indeed very cheap, but it is provided by his mas- 
ter, and it is of no consequence to him how fast it is des- 
troyed ; the hired laborer pays more for his garments, but 
he has a motive for making them last six times as long. 
The slave contrives to spend as much time as he can in the 
hospital ; the free laborer has no time to spare to be sick. 
Hopeless poverty and a sense of being unjustly dealt by, 
impels the slave to steal from his master, and he has no 
social standing to lose by indulging the impulse ; with the 
freeman pride of character is a powerful inducement to be 
honest. A salary must be paid to an overseer to compel 
the slave to work ; the freeman is impelled by a desire to 
increase his property, and add to the comforts of himself and 
family. We should question the sanity of a man who took 
the main-spring out of his watch, and hired a boy to turn 
the hands round. Yet he who takes from laborers the 
natural and healthy stimulus of wages, and attempts to sup- 
ply its place by the driver's whip, pursues a course quite as 
irrational. 

When immediate emancipation is proposed, those who 
think loosely are apt to say, " But would you turn the slaves 
loose upon society ? " There is no sense in such a question. 
Emancipated slaves are restrained from crime by the same 
laws that restrain other men ; and experience proves that a 
consciousness of being protected by legislation inspires them 
with respect for tht laws. 

But of all common questions, it seems to me the most ab- 
surd one is, " What would you do with the slaves, if they 
were emancipated ? " There would be no occasion for doing 
any thing with them. Theii' labor is needed where they are ; 
and if white people can get along with them, under all. the 
disadvantages and dangers of slavery, what should hinder 
their getting along under a system that would make them 



w^' 



96 THE RIGHT WAT THE SAFE WAT. 

work better and faster, while it took from them all motive to 
rebellion ? 

It is often asked, " What is jour plan ? " It is a very 
simple one ; but it would prove as curative as the prophet's 
direction, " Go wash, and be clean." It is merely to stimu- 

^ late laborers by wages, instead of driving them by the whip. 
When that plan is once adopted, education and religious 
teaching, and agricultural improvements will soon follow, as 
matters of course. 

It is not to be supposed that the transition from slavery to 
freedom would be unattended with inconveniences. All 
changes in society involve some disadvantages, either to 
classes or individuals. Even the introduction of a valuable 
machine disturbs for a while the relations of labor and 
capital. But it is important to bear in mind that whatever 
difficulties might attend emancipation woidd he slight and 
temporary ; while the difficulties and dangers involved in the 
continuance of slavery are permanent^ and constantly increas- 
ing. Do you ask in what way it is to be accomplished ? I 
answer, That must finally be decided by legislators. It is 
my business to use all my energies in creating the will to do 

"^ it ; because I know very well that " Where there is a will 
there is a way ; " and I earnestly entreat all who wish well 
to their country to aid me in this work. 



APPENDIX. 

IN WHICH STAJEJIENTS ARE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE CLOSE OF 1860 



Ml*. Bigelow, of the New York Evening Post, whose book ia 
often quoted in the preceding pages, testifies to the condition of 
the British West India Islands as late as 1850. Ten years later, 
Mr. William G. Sewcll, of the New York Times, visited those Is- 
lands, and on his return published a book called, " The Ordeal of 
Free Labor." It is written in a very candid spirit, and evinces 
careful observation. Ho has no disposition to conceal that tempo- 
rary difficulties attend the transition from one system of labor to 
another ; but he proves conclusively, that slavery brought increas- 
ing ruin, and freedom is bringing increasing prosperity. We sub- 
join a few brief extracts : 

Imports. " Between 1820 and 1834, British Guiana imported 
annually to the value of $3,700,000 ; in 1850, the imparts of Gui- 
ana were valued at. $5,060,000. The annual imports of Trinidad, 
between 1820 and 1834, averaged in value $1,690,000 ; in 1859, 
they were valued at $3,000,000. The annual imports of Barba- 
does, during the same period, averaged in value $2,850,000 ; in 

1859, they were valued at $4,660,000. The imports of Antigua, 
during the same period, averaged $600,000 ; iu 1859, they were 
valued at $1,280,000. The total exhibit represents the annual 
import trade, before emancipation, as valued at $8,840,000 ; and 
valued at the present time at $14,600,000 ; Qv,an excess of imports, 
undar a free system, of the value of flue millions, seven hundred and 
sixty thousand dollars," 

Exports. "For rour years prior to emancipation, British Gui- 
ana exported an annual average of 98,000,000 lbs. of sugar ; while 
from 1856 to 1860, its annual average export rose to 100,600,000 
lbs. For four years prior to emancipation, Trinidad annually ex- 
ported an avemgo of 37,000,000 lbs. of sugar ; while from 1856 to 

1860, its annual average export rose to 62,000,000 lbs. Four years 
prior to emancipation, Barbadoes annually exported an average of 
32,800,000 lbs. of sugar ;.from 1856 to 1860, its annual average 
export rose to 78,000,000 lbs. Four years prior to emancipation, 



98 APPENDIX, 

Antigua exported an annual avernge of 19,500,000 lbs. of sugar ; 
from"lS5G to ISGO, its annual average export rose to 24,400,000 
lbs. The total exhibit is 187,300,000 lbs. annually exported before 
emancipation, and 205,000,000 lbs. annually exported noAv ; or, an 
excess of exports, with free labor, of seventy-seven millions, seven 
hundred iliousand, pounds of sugar.'''' 

■ " In the exports, I have macic mention of sugar only ; but if all 
other articles of commerce be included, and a comparison be insti- 
tuted between the import and export trade of Guiana, Trinidad, 
Barbadoes, and Antigua, under slavery, and their trade under fve&- 
dom., the annual balance in favor of freedom will be found to have 
reached already fifteen millions of dollars, at the very lowest esti- 
mated^ 

*' The increase of imports is to be attributed to the improved 
condition and ampler means of the peasantry developed by the 
dawn of freedom." 

EFFECTS OF FREEDOM ON THE LABORERS. 

*' In Barbadoes, within the last fifteen years, in spite of the ex- 
traordinary price of land and the low rate of wages, the small pro- 
prietors, holding less than five acres, have increased from 1100 to 
3537. A great majority of them were formerly slaves. This fact 
speaks volumes. It is certainly an evidence of industrious habits, 
and is a remarkable contradiction to the prevailing idea that the 
negro will work only under compulsion. That idea was formed 
and fostered from the habits of the negro as a slave. ■ His habits as 
a/ree man, developed under a wholesome stimulus and settled by 
time, are in striking contrast to his habits as a slave. None are 
more ready than the planters themselves to admit that the free la- 
borer is a better, more cheerful, and more industrious workman 
than the slave ever was under a system of compulsion. These are 
the opinions of men, who were themselves once violently opposed 
to freedom, and who still strive to keep the laboring classes in com- 
plete dependence ; and they are opinions so universal that I have 
Bought diligently, but in vairi, to hear them contradicted." 

'• In St. Vincent, the returns for 1857 show that no less' than 
8209 persons were then living in their own houses, built by them- 
selves since emancipation. Within the last welve years, from ten 
to twelve thousand acres have been brought under cultivation by 
small proprietors, owning from one to five acres, and growing ar- 
row-root, provisions, and minor articles for export. The statisti- 
cal returns from which I gather these figures further state that 
there are no paupers on the island.''^ 

" In Trinidad, there is, unquestionably, a certain amount of 
idleness and vagabondism among the Creole laborers ; but I see no 
evidence that these vices exist in larger proportion among them, 



APPENDIX. 99 

than they would exist among any other class of laborers similarly 
situated. In leaving the estates, the great majority were actuated 
by a desire to better their circumstances, and to lead a more inde- 
pendent life. Land was cheap and abundant,^nd they preferred 
to have their own property, rather than labor at low wages in a 
condition of precarious servitude. Added to this, the course of 
the planters contributed greatly to the very evil which they dread- 
pd, and from which they afterward so severely suffered. Instead 
tof endeavoring by liberal terms to induce the laborers to remain on 
the estates, they commenced, shortly after emancipation, a system 
of giving less wages, and exacting more work ; and when the la- 
borers . retired from estate to field work, they were summarily 
ejected from the houses and lands they occupied on the estates, 
and their provision grounds were destroyed. The emancipated 
laborers had, therefore, no resource left but to separate themselves 
from the planting interest. Five-sixths of them became proprie- 
tors of from one to ten acres, which they now own, and which they 
grow in provisions for themselves and families. To supply other 
wants, they give casual labor to 'the estates ; but they are free of 
the estates, and can work for whom they deem the best paymaster. 
If any doubts that a very large number, a very astonishing num- 
ber, of the emancipated laborers have become independent proprie- 
tors, let him look at the score of villages built up since abolition, 
and so thickly scattered throughout the cultivated districts of Trin- 
idad that it would be superfluous in me to point them out." 

" Antigua hastened in advance of all other colonies to emanci- 
pate her slaves. She refused to believe in the virtues of an ap- 
prenticeship, or in the doctrine that her bondmen needed a purga- 
tory to prepare them for freedom. Her rulers were wise in their 
generation. They foresaw that with the substitution of free labor 
for slave labor much had to be learned, and much to be unlearned ; 
that the success of the new system could only be determined by 
time and experience ; and that an early start in the race was a 
point to be gained, not to be neglected. Antigua has never had 
any cause to regret the independent course she then thought prop- 
er to pursue. * ■ * * The improved condition of the peasantry 
is never doubted or questioned in the island itself, and it is well 
shown by the nature and extent of the imports during late years, 
as compared with tlreir nature and extent before emancipation. 
From 1822 to 1832, the average annual value of goods imported by 
Antigua was £130,000 sterling ; in 1858, the island imported to 
the value of £266,364 sterling. During ten years preceding eman- 
cipation, tlie average number of vessels that annually entered the 
diiierent ports of the island was 340, and the tonnage 30,000. In 
1858, the number of vessels was 668, and the tonnage 42,534. In 
1846, there were in the island 67 villages, containing 3187 houses 
and 9033 inhabitants. All these villages were founded, and all 

LefC. 



100 APPENDIX, 

these houBes built, since emancipation. In 1858, 2000 additional 
houses had been built, and the number of village residents had 
risen to 15,G44. At the same period, there were only 299 paupers 
in the island. The^lanters of Antigua avow, what is unquestion- 
ably true, that by the introduction of a cheaper system of labor, 
the island was saved, in 1834, from impending ruin." 

" With regard to Jamaica, I do not mean to say that the estates 
have anything like a sufficiency of labor. I merely wish to give 
point-blank denial to a very general impression, that the Jamaica 
negroes will not work at all. Nine ovit of ten rely principally upon 
their own properties for the support of themselves and their fami- 
lies ; but they are willing, nevertheless, to work for the estates, or 
on the roads, when it does not interfere with necessary labor on 
their own lands. Wlien the choice lies between the roads and the 
estates, it is not surprising that they should select the employer 
that pays best and most regularly. The Jamaica negro gives aa 
much labor, even to the sugar estates, as he consistently can, and 
it is no fault of his if he cannot give enough. They are a peacea- 
ble, law-abiding peasantry, with whom the remembrance of past 
wronp-s hashacfso little weight that, from the day of emancipation 
until "now, they have never dreamed of a hostile combination, either 
a-^ainst their old masters, or the government under which they live; 
though in the time of slavery, insurrections were numerous and ter- 
rible? The condition of the Jamaica peasants in 18G0 is a stand- 
ing rebuke to those who, wittingly or unwittingly, encourage the 
vulgar lie, that the African cannot possibly be elevated. The dis- 
solute idlers, loafers, and vagabonds, that congregate in Kingston 
and other towns, are as different from their country brethren, as 
the rowdy of New York city is different from the honest farmers of 
the State." 

COMPARATIVE CHEAPNESS OF FREE LABOR. 

<' N "barbadian planter, in 1859, would hesitate to select free 
labor iu preference to slave labor, as in his belief the more econom- 
ical of the two. Every planter in Jamaica knows from his own 
books, if they go back far enough, that free labor is cheaper than 
slave ia])or. * He knows that the cultivation of an acre of cane does 
not now cost him $40, Avhen in other times ?fc cost him $80. He 
knows that under slavery, the digging an acre of cane-holes cost 
from $35 to $45, while under freedom it is from $8 to $15. He 
knows that under one system 30 per cent, of his laboring force were 
non effectives, and had to be fed and clothed like the rest ; while un- 
der freedom no work is paid for that is not actually performed. He 
knows that a free laborer is not bought, and tliat the^um he would 
cost can be otherwise laid out at profitable interest; He knows 
that it 1b no longer necessary to make allowance of ten or even fif- 



APPENDIX. 101 

teen per cent, for death or depreciation. These are facts readily 
admitted, and whoever takes the trouble to think will Bee their 
force." 

" If I were asked to point out the chief obstruction to a satisfac- 
tory solution of the West India labor question, I should answer, 
without hesitation, want of confidence between employer and em- 
ployed. The planters cling unwittingly to the shreds of the sys- 
tem of coercion in which they were once taught to believe. They 
do not yet recognize the overwhelming advantages of perfectly free 
labor ; for they have checked its development, by imposing upon it •'' 
some of the heaviest burdens of feudalism and of serfdom. They 
do not seem to reflect for a moment that the interest of a proprie- 
tor is to elevate, not to degrade, his laborer. They have misjudged '-^y^ 
the negro throughout, and have put too much faith in his supposed 
inferiority. After the important step of emancipation was taken, 
the}'- did little to turn it to the best account." 
• "I came to the West Indies imbued with the American idea, 
that African freedom had been a curse to every branch of agricul- 
tural and commercial industry. I. shall leave these islands over- 
whelmed with a very opposite conviction. I deny that the negroes 
lack industry, when by industry they can add to their means, or 
advance their prosperity. The more I saw, the more I became 
convinced that debt and want of capital, much more than want of 
labor, had led to the abandonment of so many estates ; and be it 
always remembered, that the burden of debt was incurred before 
freedom was tested. Freedom, when allowed fair play, has injured 
none of these colonies. It saved them from a far deeper and more 
lasting depression than any they have yet known. It was a boon 
conferred upon all classes of society ; upon planter and laborer ; 
upon commerce and agriculture ; upon industry and education ; 
upon morality and religion. If a perfect measure of success re- 
mains to be achieved, let not freedom be condemned ; for the ob- 
stacles to overcome were great, and the workers were few and un- 
willing. If I can stimulate inquiry on a subject so important, and 
BO widely misunderstood as the West India labor question, I shall 
have achieved ali the success at which I have aimed." 



102 APPENDIX. 



ET^IANCIPATION IN THE WEST INDIES. 

A public meeting was held at Willis's Rooms, London, on Wed- 
nesday, Feb. 20th, 18G1, to receive a report from E. B. Undtrhill, 
Esq., and the Rev. J. T. Brown, the deputation of the Baptist 
Missionary Society, of their recent visit to the West Indies. 
Charles Buxton, Esq., M. P., took the chair at twelve o'clock. 

The Chairman said it must be remembered that, in the time of 
slavery, whatever the island produced was exported ; the food of 
the slaves consisting principally of salt fish and j^ams, their clothes 
and lodging being of the most wretched description. At the 
present time, however, the Creoles were rapidly rising in their 
social and physical condition, and appropriated, to a great extent, 
the productions of the country for their own use. lie would not 
anticipate the rcj^ort of the deputation, but would simpl}^ add 
that, in his opinion, notwithstanding every discouragement, eman- 
cipation had proved itself, beyond all doubt, to be a good thing for 
Jamaica, not only by producing glorious moral results, but by 
enormously enhancing the prosperity of the island. 

Mr. Underiiill said Mr. Brown and himself proceeded towards 
the close of 1859 to the West Indies. Mr. BroAvn spent, alto- 
gether, about six months in Jamaica, and he (Mr. Underbill) 
about a year, in that and the other islands of the AVest Indies ; 
and therefore the statements they were prepared to make were 
the result of no rapid and cursory view, but of close investiga- 
tion, followed out to the best of their ability. He Avould not at- 
tempt to make a speech calculated to move their feelings ; but, 
having laid before them some bare facts, he would leave these facts 
to tell their own tale. He must admit that, at the first show of 
things, those who maintained that emancipation had failed had 
something in their favor. There could be no question that, with 
regard to Jamaica, there had been a very considerable diminution 
in the exportation of the staple products of the country. The 
exportation of sugar had, for instance, declined from 1,400,000 
cwt. in 1831 — three years before the joassing of the first Act of 
Emancipation — to 535,000 cwt. in 18o8. Tlie exportation of rum 
also had declined from 35,000 puncheons in 1833 to 18,000 in 
1858. In cofii?e the reduction was still more manifest, since 
whereas in 1830 the island exported 22,000,000 lbs., in 1858 it 
only exported 5,250,000 lbs. He must also admit that upon 
entering the island of Jamaica, the representations as to its decline 
struck one as being very truthful. On landing at Kingston, one 
found a large city, the streets of which were either deep in mud 
or Band. The whole town appeared sadly neglected, and many 



APPENDIX. 103 

large warehouses were wholly unoccupied, whilst beggars and 
drunkards abounded. The feeling of depression was still further 
increased upon reading the newspapers, or going into the country. 
Estates, once jElourishing, were desolate and uncultivated, and the 
buildings in every direction were rapidly falling into decay. But 
there were one or two circumstances which materially altered the 
first impression which this state of things produced on the mind. 
In the hrst place, while Jamaica, to use a favorite expression, had 
been ruined, the West Indies generally had prospered. It was a- 
curious fact, for instance, that while the exportation of sugar lor 
three years before emancipation had averaged from all the islands 
3,000,000 cwts., in 1858 it amounted to 3,500,000 cwts., being 
only a diminution of 100,000 cwts., or about 2,000 hogsheads. It 
was obvious, therefore, that there was some other cause for the 
decay of Jamaica. Then, with regard to coffee, it must be re- 
membered that Ceylon had thrown an immense quantity of that 
commodity into the English market. For example, in 1839 Ceylon 
exported 4,500,000 lbs. of coffee, whereas sixteen years afterwards 
it actually exported 50,000,000 lbs. (Hear, hear.) That would 
partly account for the decline of the production of that commodity 
in Jamaica. With regard to Kingston, also, he learnt that instead 
of being, as it once was, a kind of central market for the Spanish 
Main, the merchants of the different ports in South America either 
stopped at St. Thomas's island, or preferred to trade direct with 
Europe, which would account largely for the appearance of Kings- 
ton. It must also be remembered that the trade in Kingston had 
changed from being principally wholesale to a retail character, so 
that while, on the one hand, it had suffered by the diminution of 
the former, it had gained by the increase of the latter. He would 
proceed to show what was the condition of the general population 
in Jamaica. There were 380,000 people in the island, and depen- 
dant to a great extent on the cultivation of tlie land. These peo- 
ple were the slaves of former days, but were now the enfranchised 
peasantry, and it was only right to consider how emancipation had 
affected their interests. On this point he could at once say that 
their position had in every respect immensely imjoroved. It had 
been said that the negroes were an idle lot of people, who squatted 
upon the land, and were quite content if they got a pumpkin to 
eat. But this was quite false. The first thing the negroes did 
was to leave the estates in great numbers. There were now but 
few estates on which they resided, and in those cases the planters 
had treated them as free men, and consequently secured their 
affections and services. A contrary line of treatment was pursued 
in the majority of instances, and that, together with want of 
capital wherewith to pay the wages weekly, had the effect of 
driving them away. The slaves who thus left the estates were 
compelled to seek other means of subsistence, but they did not 
"squat upon the land," as had been alleged — that is, settle 



104 APPENDIX. 

upon it without paying rent. The circumstance that nearly every 
inch of land in Jamaica was owned by some one made such a 
thing impossible. 

On the contrary, great numbers of the old slaves had purchased 
land, and it was an amazing fact that, at this moment, three-fifths 
of the cultivated land in Jamaica was the bona fide property of 
the blacks. (Applause.) He held in his hand a return of one 
mission congregation, and there were some interesting facts con- 
tained in it which he would take the liberty of quoting. In that 
congregation there were seventy-three heads of families, of whom 
sixty-two were once slaves, which should be charitably considered 
when looking at the progress they have made in the arts of civiliza- 
tion and mental culture. It could not be expected that in twenty- 
one years all the old feelings and passions and moral taints of 
slavery would be removed trom the land. These seventy-three 
families possessed among them 342 acres of freehold land, and 
rented an average of two acres each besides. They possessed 
amongst them seventy horses or mules — a species of property 
negroes were very anxious to have. Surely these facts proved that 
they were not " squatters," in the sense in which that word was 
used. The report of the Hanover Agricultural Society strongly 
supported him in the conclusions to which he had arrived in 
reference to the negro population. That report stated that in six 
districts of the parish, containing four or five thousand people, 
there were 802 proprietors, holding about 4,200 acres amongst 
them, which would be about five and a-half acres to each family. 
He valued the land possessed by the people at 3/. 10s. per acre, 
which was a much lower estimate than he might fairly put upon 
it. This would make 1,050,000/. as the price they had paid for 
the land. But they had not only bought land — they had built 
houses upon it. The cottages in which they lived during slavery 
liad been destroyed, and he was thankful it was so. The people 
had built for themselves a better class of houses, at a cost which 
could not ]je less than 10/. per house, and he was very glad to say 
it was very rare to find more than one family in a house. That 
amounted at least to 000,000/. Their furniture would be very 
moderately valued at 3/. per house — about half the real value — 
making an additional 180,000/. ; and their carts, horses, mules, 
pigs, &c., could not be put at less than 50,000/., which was, in 
fact, much under the mark. The next item was a very interesting 
one, namely, the value of the sugar-mills, and implements used in 
the production of sugar. There were 143 sugar-mills in a portion 
of Hanover alone, and there could not be less than 5,000 in the 
island of Jamaica. These mills were valued by the Hanover 
Agricultural Society at 10/. each. Then, as to their clothes, they 
were as well dressed as the agricultural laborers of England, and 
every negro had at least one if not two suits. It was not true 
that the moral and respectable people were gaudily dressed. Upon 



APPENDIX. 105 

the whole, the clothes would be cheaply valued at 11. per head — 
making 380,000/. Then, and lastlj^, there were deposits in the 
Bavings' banks to the extent of 49,3U5/. The sum total of all this 
property'', which had been accumulated since the emancipation, 
was 2,358,000/. — an estimate which he ventured to say was much 
below the mark. Of course there were some idle and some ragged 
people among them, as, indeed, there were in every country on the 
• lace of the earth. But, at any rate, it would bo very unfair to 
take Kingston as a fair sample of the island. It only numbered 
30,000 people out of a population of 380,000, and it would never 
do to judge of a people by the minority. The annual value oi" the 
exports from Jamaica, taking an average of three years, was 
1,057,000/., including sugar, rum, coffee, and the other products 
of the island, but it must not be supposed that the whole of that 
was grown by white people. It might be purchased and owned 
by the whites, but the work had been done by black hands, and 
directed by black heads. He found that each family cultivated 
some land for itself — say an acre to each family. An acre 
would produce from 15/. to 50/. worth per annum ; he had esti- 
mated it at 20/. The entire produce of this island would be 
2,500,000/. per annum. Was that an idle people? His calcula- 
ti;)ns were checked in a very interesting way by those of the Han- 
over xigricultural Society, to which he had previously alluded. 
That society estimated the average earnings of each family at 30/. 
per annum. The number of families was 70,000, so that, accord- 
ing to the society, the annual earnings of the negroes in Jamaica 
amounted to 2,280,000/., a conclusion nearly similar to his own, 
though he had arrived at it by a totally diiferent process of cal- 
culation. Another interesting feature was the decrease which had* 
taken place in the importation of salt fish. In the daj^s of slavery 
the 3^am and salt fish constituted the chief food of the people, l)ut 
now there was a growing taste for fresh meat, and many planters 
were turning their property into pens for the breeding and fatten- 
ing of cattle. One black man, who was formerly a slave, but who 
noAv carried on the business of butcher in one of the towns, told 
him that in Christmas week he had killed nine head of cattle, and 
the returns of his business amounted to 5,000/. a year, thou^'h 
there were two other butchers in the same town. In one town — 
the town which owed its existence almost entirely to Mr. Knibb — ■ 
from five to seven head of cattle Avere slaughtered every Avcek. 
All these things showed that the people were advancing m their 
social condition. 

A few facts might not be uninteresting with reference to the 
religious condition of the people. In the first place they had 
buiit 220 chapels, quite independent of the Established Cluirch, 
of whidh he could find no record showing their numljer. In con- 
nection with these chapels there were 53,000 communicants, or 
about one-eighth of the entire population. This itself was a very 



106 AI>PENDIX. 

gratifying and rather unusual state of things. The number of 
people regularly attending these chapels was 91,000, or about a 
fourth part of the population, and the Sunday-schools contained 
about 22,000 children, or about a third of the children who were 
capable of attending school. Lastly, they raised every year for 
religious purposes about 22,000/. 

Crime was rare in the West Indies — he meant crime which 
brought men to the courts of law. He found from the published ' 
returns, that the number of men in prison during 1854 was 908, 
whilst the number in prison at one time in 1853 was only GOO. 
That was not a very considerable number for so large a population. 
The people were very fond of cutlasses, and there was hardly a 
man who had not got one, but yet one scarcely ever heard of a 
cutlass being used to the injury of another man. Men had been 
known to throw away their cutlasses when they have been 
quarrelling, lest they should be tempted to use them against each 
other — a cirumstance which showed a great amount of self-con- 
trol, and accounted for the unfrequency of great crimes. There 
was a rising feeling in favor of marriage, and an increasing 
respect for the marriage tic amongst the negroes since the aboli- 
tion of slavery. True, the feeling was not yet so prevalent as 
could be wished, but the missionaries were doing all they could to 
encourage it. The question of education was one of vast im- 
portance in relation to the negro. The progress made in the 
island in this respect had been slight, but from a census taken by 
one of the missionaries at an interval of twenty-five years, he 
found that whereas just before freedom only three negroes in 
5,000 could be found in one particular district that could read and 
write, at the nest census 1,700 were able to do so. That showed 
that some progress had been made, but for all that the great want 
of Jamaica was education. The conclusion he had come to was 
this, that though emancipation might have occasioned some dif- 
ficulties to the planters, it had been an unmixed blessing to the 
people. He did not know a single drawback or qualification that 
need be made to that statement. Should the planters continue in 
their present course, they also would reap the advantage in the 
general peace and security of the country, and in their own increased 
pecuniary gains. Last of all, he believed the tide in Jamaica 
was noAV turned, and that ordinary foresight, prudence, and care 
might make the island even more prosperous in years to come than 
it had ever ])een in the past. He recalled his visit to Jamaica 
with sincere pleasure. He went with deep trembling, but had 
come aAvay with a gladdened heart, satisfied — as he trusted the 
meeting was, after having the facts he had laid before it — that 
Jamaica had not Bufiered from emancipation, but that its results, 
both to the people and to their country, would prove to be of the 
highest, most blessed, and most advantageous kind. (Applause.) 



APPENDIX. 107 

The Rev. J. T. Brown said he rose with a very great deal of 

Eleasure to add a few words to those Avhich his friend and colleague 
ad addressed to the meeting. He concurred in the statements of 
his colleague as to the social results which had flowed from eman- 
cipation ; and he could, if he had time, adduce many facts in their 
corroboration ; hut there were many doubtless in that meeting who 
felt, with him, that whilst the social welfare of a people was a 
good thing, yet that their religious welfare was paramount, and 
that if they could not have brought good tidings in that respect, 
they must have come home indeed with a heavy heart. One source 
of difficulty in judging of the state of Jamaica was the fact that 
false reports of the land were circulated by disappointed planters, 
by bigots, by clever writers, and by disheartened missionaries. 
What ihe Times newspaper chose to say upon the subject was, to a 
great extent, matter of indifference, because every one knew what 
worth to attach to it ; but when he saw a statement so utterly un- 
true as that contained in the " Encyclopeedia Britannica," — he did 
not impute wilful falsehood to the writer, — he was grieved indeed. 
That statement was to the effect that, during slavery, the Dissent- 
ing ministers possessed great influence over the negro, but that 
the latter now preferred the Established Church, because it cost 
him nothing, thougli, in point of fact, he cared but little for either. 
This was altogether a misrepresentation. (Great cheering.) One of 
the last persons who had contriliuted to this popular error was 
that clever writer of fiction, Mr. Trollope, who deserved to be de- 
scribed as a writer of fiction, not only as the author of " Barchester 
Towers " and " Framley Parsonage," but of the book he had pub- 
lished on the West Indies. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.) 
VYhenever persons in Jamaica wished to represent a violent, preju- 
diced, and obstinate person, — one who judged as hastily of a relig- 
ious body as Mr. Trollope judged of the Baptists, — who would 
rather dance with a Jew than pray with a Baptist, when they 
wished to speak of a person of .violent and prejudiced character, 
looking only at one side of a question, running and jumping 
through a country, — one, in fact,- wlio was altogether untrust- 
worthy, — they would say of him that he had been " Trollopeing." 
(Laughter.) That Avas the name Mr. Trollope had given to such a 
character in Jamacia. But facts were facts, and, though Mr. 
Trollope avowed his dislike for statistics, there were some very 
stubborn ones which stared him in the face. In the first place, the 
people were orderly in their conduct — well governed and well be- 
haved ; persons and property were perfectly safe on the island, and 
serious crimes were very rare. The marriage tie was respected, and 
children respected their parents. These were facts which forcibly 
contrasted with the awful condition of society before the emancipa- 
tion. Again,' the religious statistics of the country spoke loudly 
in favor of emancipation. They contributed largely towards the 



: AT'PENDIX. 

expenses of religious worship, and many attended punctually the 
means of g:race. The European Dissenting ministers on the island 
received 150/. per annum, and the native preachers, of whom there 
were sixteen, from 100/. to 120/.per annum . There Avcre seventy-seven 
churches connected with the Baptist body in the island ; these in- 
cluded 20,000 communicants and 2,000 anxious inquirers ; and 
although there were at times instances of false profession and cases 
of backsliding, yet the discipline of the churches Avas good, and 
their condition altogether in many respects furnished good exam- 
ples for Christian congregations at home. He could not forbear 
also pa^dng a high tribute to the deacons and ciders, who, taken 
upon the whole, were a fine body of Christian disciples, and true 
helpers of the ministry. He was aware that there was a gr^at deal 
of mental ignorance in the island, but even in that respect its con- 
dition had materially improved since the emancipation. He wished 
many of the persons now listening to him could have listened to 
the speeches of some of the Christian negroes at some of their 
meetings in Jamaica, and have marked the strong common sense and 
great intelligence which tumbled awkwardly out of their mouths ; 
or could have heard their prayers, where beautiful thoughts and 
clear and holy aspirations struggled through their broken speech 
— indications of a mental vigor which only needed cultivation, 
and which even now commanded respect. 

The Rev. William Arthur then moved the following resolu- 
tion : — 

" That this meeting lias heard with great pleasure the satisfactory ac- 
count given by the deputation of the Baptist ^Missionary Society of the re- 
sults of emancipation in the West Indies, and Jamaica in particular, and 
of the progress made by the negro population in civilization, intelligence, 
and piety, and deem the great Act of Emancipation of 800,000 slaves, an 
act just and right in itself, as amply vindicated by the success which has 
attended it." 

He felt it to be a real honor to be asked to move this resolution, 
and he congratulated the Baptist IMissionary Society on having sent 
out so al)leli deputation to the West Indies. Their report was a 
most important one, and the more so at this juncture, when the 
attention of the people of America was anxiously directed to the 
results of emancipation in the West Indies, and especially in Ja- 
maica. The friends of freedom had reason to be deeply thankful 
to Mr. Underbill for his careful and comprehensive inquiry into the 
real state of affairs. 

The Rev. Edward Mathews, in seconding the resolution, said 
that he could testify from his OAvn experience in the State of Ohio 
that the facts adduced by the deputation would have much influ- 
ence in America, and help forward the cause of emancipation there. 



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